


Plus Signs

by OliviaAdams



Series: Souvenirs [2]
Category: Chris Evans - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF
Genre: Chris Evans Fandom - Freeform, F/M, RPF, Real person fan fiction, celebrity fanfic, chris evans - Freeform, chris evans rpf, real person fanfic, real person fiction - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-14 03:35:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7997125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OliviaAdams/pseuds/OliviaAdams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It seems that you and Chris left Disneyland with a little more than fond memories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Cursing... lots of curse words.

“Holy shit,” I stared down at the little plus sign wavering before my eyes, slowly disappearing as my vision blurred with tears. “Holy fucking shit. Shit. SHIT!”  
  
I slid my back down the bathroom wall, sinking to the ground. I laughed, through the tears, gripping the test stick in my balled fist. _This is NOT happening!_

My phone buzzed on the counter, startling my thoughts. I glared at it, willing it to NOT be Chris calling. Pulling myself up I read my sister’s name on the screen. _Nope, not right now._ Sobbing heaved out of me at the thought of telling my sister. She didn’t even know about Chris. Nobody did. They knew I’d been seeing someone… but no one knew the entire truth. They certainly didn’t know about the nights in Disneyland.  
  
“FUCK!” I tossed the test into the sink and pressed my hands to the counter top, staring at myself in the mirror _. I can do this. I can do this. I can. I will. I don’t know how he’ll react… but I don’t need him. If he doesn’t want to be involved, that’s fine. It’ll be ok. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this…_

“HELLO!?” My sister’s concerned voiced called through the bathroom door. “<y/n>, are you ok in there?”  
  
“Shit…” I muttered to myself. “Yes, I’m fine.”  
  
“No… No, you’re not.” I could almost hear her arms cross defiantly across her chest.  
  
“I’ll be out in a minute.” I hung my head. _This is fucking awesome._ I splashed water onto my face in a feeble attempt to hide what was going on just seconds before. Her eyes caught mine as I slipped out of the bathroom, clicking the door shut against my back.  
  
“Who is in there!?” The look of concerned snapped into a smirk of curiosity.  
  
“No one!” I laughed. A smug looked flickered across my sister’s face as she pushed past me, flinging the bathroom door open. The sight of the empty bathroom was no satisfaction to her. She eyed me sideways and strode over to the walk-in closet, smiling as she opened the door. Her face fell at the lack of a half-dressed man.  
  
“Fine. Ugh.” She shrugged and retreated into my bedroom, flopping backward onto my bed. “You didn’t answer the door or my phone call. I got worried, so I used my key… So, can I sleep in here? Your bed is WAY better than your guest bed… have I ever told you that?”  
  
“Just a few times,” I laughed at her. “I’m not sure I’m going anywhere, though.”  
  
“What!?” She shot her head up, propping herself on her elbows. “But I had big plans to sleep in your giant bed and take ridiculously long bubble baths in your giant tub! All. Weekend. Long.”  
  
“Is that all?” I raised an eyebrow at her.  
  
“I’d get out of the tub to feed the cat and water your plants too.” As if on cue, a tiny grey fluff ball pounced onto the bed. “Hi Mimi,” my sister cooed the nickname at her, picking up my tiny cat.

“You can still stay. We can have a girl’s weekend?”

“Wine and chick flicks?” She looked hopeful, while I felt my face fall.

_FUCK! Worst idea ever. I can’t fucking drink wine! Now I have to tell her… now… right now… oh, my god…_

“Um… yeah, maybe…” my eyes drifted back to the bathroom, where the test stick was still in the sink.

“Wait… WHY aren’t you going to the conference? You’ve been fan girling over this thing for months! We’re you supposed to have a sit down with some major fabric designer or something?”

“I know… I’ll have to reschedule… or something.” My mind was not in the room, my mind was not on the fabric conference, my mind was in the bathroom. Staring at the pregnancy test.

“Seriously?” She looked at me baffled, truly confused. I couldn’t blame her. “What the fuck happened in the bathroom?”

“My life changed…” my voice was quiet as I looked back at the bathroom again.  
  
“OH MY GOD!” My sister yelped out, bounced from the bed and raced to the bathroom. “Where is it!?” I could hear her rushed steps going to the water closet first, then the sink. “OH MY GOD! SHUT UP!”

I dragged myself to my bed, climbing up and curling into a ball. My sister emerged slowly, pregnancy test in hand, a wide grin plastered across her face.

“I’m going to be an AUNTIE!?” Her eyebrows shot up and she rushed to me. I covered my face in my hands and started bawling. “<y/n> who is the father!? WHO IS THE FATHER!? Is it Seth!?”  
  
“Noooooo, gross!” I groaned into my hands. The thought of my ex-boyfriend made me nauseous.

“Oh thank god!” My sister bounced onto the bed next to me. “So… is he cute?”

“Yes… VERY!” I peeked out between my fingers. “Smoking hot.”

“Would I think he’s cute?” she lifted an eyebrow, looking down at the test.

“Yes… but you can’t have him.” I joked.

“OBVIOUSLY!” She roared in laughter. “Ok, seriously… you’re pregnant, not dead. Why can’t you go to the conference?”

“I don’t know… I feel like I need to tell him… and I don’t want that weighing on me while I’m there.”

“So… let's go tell him, then you get in the car and go to the conference!” She sprang up from the bed and grabbed her purse from the floor.

“Um… it’s not that easy.”

“Why not? Is he at work?”

“Well yeah… in New Mexico.” I let the words come out slowly. _Here it goes… I have to tell her who he is now…_

“New Mexico? On a business trip?”

“You could say that… he travels, for work… at lot.”

“What does he do?”

“He’s in the movie industry.” I walked to my desk to start up my laptop, ready to book a flight. My stomach lurched at the thought of seeing Chris, then again at the thought of telling him that I’m pregnant.

“Ohhh… so like, filming locations?” I nodded, my back to her. “Movie industry… that’s not like, a fancy word for catering or something lame, is it?”

I burst into laughter at her question.

“No… his job isn’t lame at all!”

“Oh my god, is he a stuntman!? Like, totally ripped and takes hits for a living?”

“Totally ripped… yes. Stuntman… no. He does do a lot of his own stunts, though.” I looked at my sister over my shoulder smiling. “You’re right, though, I should tell him. Today. Will you come with me?”

“To New Mexico!? Who will feed Mia!?”

“I’ll ask Kate,” I stated simply, referring to my one employee. “She loves Mia and she loves my bed as much as you do.” Kate, you see, was as much a friend at this point, as she was an employee. We spent many nights, creeping into mornings, pouring over details of the next design for release, filling and refilling our wine glasses hour by hour. Kate was my employee, my assistant, my pet sitter, and my good friend.

“Rude.” She shook her head, not ready to give up on sleeping on my memory foam mattress all weekend. “Ok… where are we going… and are you paying for my flight too?”

“Yes, of course.” I pulled my eyebrows together realizing that I had no clue what remote location Chris was at right now. “Fuck.”

“What? Where are we going?” She leaned over me to peek at the travel website I had clicked open.

“I have no fucking clue.” I rubbed the back of my neck.

“Sooooo, ask him?”

“If I ask him, he’ll know I’m coming and he’ll know something is wrong.” I sighed the words out.

“If he’s just some fuck buddy, who cares? Tell him over the phone.”

“He’s not…” my mind wandered to a few weeks ago, when Chris had surprised me at the local sewing and fabric store. Kate had helped him with timing and I nearly screamed at the sight of him, thumbing through bolts of fabric. I faked food poisoning that night to get out of the weekly Sunday family dinner. We spent an entire weekend in bed, only leaving to grab food from the kitchen. Naked.

“He’s not? What? He’s not just a fuck buddy!? What the fuck <y/n>!? Why have we not met him yet?!” She was practically screaming at me.

“Because… I wasn’t ready to share him?” I shrugged, picking up my phone. I scrolled down to Liz, Chris’ assistant, and clicked “Call”.

“Share him!? Who is he?! Is he famous!?” I couldn’t contain my laughter.

“LIZ! HI!” I beamed at my sister, the phone to my ear.

“<y/n>, how are you!?”

“I’m good! I’m great!” My sister was scowling at me. “Hey, I need your help with something.”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“I was wondering if you could help me surprise Chris? I wanted to come see him… I’m ditching the conference.”

“OOH! Yes! Absolutely! What do you need?” Liz sounded excited.

“CHRIS!? CHRIS WHO!?” My sister was hopping up and down. “Chris PINE!? OH MY GOD! Chris HEMSWORTH?!”

“Just his schedule, I guess? I literally have no idea where he’s filming right now and I was just looking at fights. Well, trying to.” I started clicking through my computer to my folders of photos.

My Computer > Libraries > Photos > Disneyland

Thumbnails filled the folder and I double clicked my favorite. The photo stretched across my laptop screen. Chris and me, in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. A sweet cast member had snapped the photo with my phone, the morning after our first dinner date. I looked to my sister, her eyes squinted at the computer.

“EVANS!? YOU FUCKED CHRIS EVANS!?”

“Is that your sister?” Liz was laughing uncontrollably.  
  
“You fucked Chris Evans in DISNEYLAND!?”

“Yes, that’s her, sorry.” I swatted at my sister. “Soooo… where is he?”

“We’re in the tiniest little town, the airport is so small.” I could hear Liz typing feverishly at her own laptop.

“Oh! You’re there with him!”

“Yes.” She was hammering away at the keys. “There’s a lot of logistics with the crew, stuntmen, physical training and… yeah, lots of logistics. He wanted me on site. Kathy and Beth are here too! They’ll be so excited to see you!” Liz was speaking quickly, mentioning Robert Downy Jr and Jeremy Renner’s assistants. I had befriended the three of them, visiting the film sets twice since the Disneyland adventure. When their services were not needed, we would sneak away for shopping, coffee or wine dates, just us girls.

I clicked further into my computer. Photos > Mine > CE. I found the photo I wanted and clicked it open. My sister’s eye grew wide at the photo. A selfie, Chris and Me, laying on my bed. She looked back to my bed and let out a little yelp.

“Ok, <y/n>, here’s what I’m gonna do…” Liz’s voice was distracted and I could hear her typing and clicking away. “I’ve chartered a plane for you. How soon can you be at that little airport by your house? The one you flew out of last time.”

“Wait… what? Really?” I was baffled by her question.

“Yes.” She laughed, knowingly. “Chris told me WEEKS ago that if you ever wanted to surprise him, to charter a flight for you. I’m just excited that I finally get to do it!”

“We’re flying a private plane!” I mock-whispered to my sister, covering the phone’s mouthpiece with my hand.

“SHUT UP!” She pushed me aside and sat at my desk, clicking through the menagerie of photos.

“Liz… that is… thank you. Amazing! That is amazing! Thank you!” I started laughing at myself.

“<y/n> you are so welcome!”

“Oh, this is horrible!” My sister gasped. I whipped around to see that she had found the folder of pictures I saved separately. The folder of photos snapped by the paparazzi. Photos linked to articles where tabloids attempted to figure out who I was. “These are horrible! They followed you!?”

“Yes,” I sighed. “The shit they say is hilarious, though.” I feigned a smile and turned back around to speak to Liz. “So… um… my sister… I was hoping to bring her with me?”

“Absolutely. I’ll add her to everything.” I recited my sister’s information to Liz and began pulling my luggage from under the bed. “<y/n>… Is everything ok?”

I stood up straight at Liz’s question, catching my sister’s eye.

“Yeah, Liz. Everything is fine. Why?” My attempts to sound casual amounted to nothing.

“I only ask because you’re bringing your sister.” Her typing had stopped. _Shit_. My heart starting racing. _I am NOT ready to tell HER yet!_

“No, Liz, I’m fine. Everything is fine. I just… you know, it’s not often that one gets the chance to visit a Marvel set during filming.” My voice was shaking. There was no hiding that.

“<y/n>, if you’re going to break up with him, can you just tell me now? I’d rather book your return flight now if need be.” Liz sounded hurt, but my response was loud nervous guffawing. So un-lady like.

“No. No no no, that’s not it at all.” Tears streamed down my face. Was I crying or laughing? Not even I knew which. “No, I’m not breaking up with him. Nobody is breaking up. At least I hope not.” I clapped my hand over my mouth at the realization of what I said.

“Well, that can mean a few things…” Her voice was kind and concerned. _I could tell her, get it over with. She might be able to help me even more._ “Do you need an escape plan?”

_An escape plan? FUCK! What if he gets mad? What if he completely loses his shit? What if he won’t even look at me?!_

“I hope not,” was all I managed to squeak out.

“Whatever you need, I’m here. Ok?” Liz reassured me calmly. There was no calming my nerves at this point. My stomach was twisted in knots and my mouth went dry.

“Thank you, Liz. I really appreciate that.” Tears started filling my eyes, clouding the sight of my sister walking towards me, arms outstretched to hug me.

“Ok,” Liz nearly yelped through the phone. “Let’s go over some details real quick… then you need to pack.”


	2. Chapter Two

We settled into our seats, putting our purses and backpacks under the chairs. My nerves were getting the best of me, leaving me fumbling with the seatbelt buckle. My sister stood from her seat and crouched in front of me. Her hands pressed down on mine, calming the shaking, and she nimbly buckled me in.

“Thank you,” I smiled at her, my lips shaking.

“You need a drink!” She laughed at me.

“Fuck… I do.”

“I can offer you something real quick before we taxi,” the co-pilot clicked open a cabinet full of tiny liquor bottles.

My sister and I exchanged a quick look and promptly erupted into giggles.

“Water, for both of us, please.” My sister winked to the co-pilot and I knew she’d be flirting with him the next chance she had. I stifled more giggles as he bent down to the small refrigerator and my sister leaned out of her seat to catch a glimpse of the man’s ass.

“What?!” She hissed at me through a smile. “If you get to fuck Chris Evans, I get to fuck his pilot.” This pushed me over the edge and I laughed loudly at the smirk on her face.

“Well, I’m off work in three hours.” Mr. Co-Pilot winked at her, eliciting more laughter from me.

With our water bottles in hand, seat backs up and electronics off, the pilot and co-pilot went work to get us in the air.

“You ready for this?” She eyed me across the small table that stood between our plush leather seats.

“Nope… good thing I’ve got a couple hours to get my shit together.”

“How are you going to tell him?”

“That’s part of the shit that I need to get together.” I chuckled.

“Do we really have a car being sent for us?”

“Ha, yes… that’s pretty normal actually. Even when Chris picks me up, it’s with a driver.” I smiled at the memory of my last trip to a film location. “And Liz booked us a room.”

“For both of us?” She looked at me questioningly. “You’re really worried that he’ll be MAD!?”

“Sort of… I hope he won’t be. I’d like to think that he won’t be. But yes, I’m scared. I’m terrified.”

“Have you guys ever talked about any of this? Does he want kids?”

“No… we haven’t. I was sort of relying on all of our precautions doing their damn jobs. Clearly, I had too much trust in that.”

“Precautionssssss…. Plural?” She was laughing at me now.

“Yes! Plural! I hardly knew him the first time!” I was shocked at my own confession.

“How long _did_ you know him before the first time?!”

“Define ‘know him’,” I finger quoted the air.

“OH MY GOD, <y/n>!” She tossed a small pillow at me, grinning. “You are my fucking hero! Seriously!? Did you even know his name!?”

“Jesus, of course I did! He’s Chris Evans!” I smiled wide, thinking of our deal in Disneyland.

“Did he know yours!?”

“Funny you should ask…” I winked to my sister and began to fill her in on the details. All of the details. Every smutty and dirty detail. Every fluffy and feel good detail. Every detail of our deal. Every single detail I could pull from memory.

Our conversation flowed into descriptions of our trips to see each other. How Chris had come to see me the weekend after our Disney trip. I filled her in on the personalities of the co-stars I had met on location. I told the story of how his sister found out that he was seeing someone, when I sent him a text that she intercepted. That said sister had called me to quiz me on our relationship, with Chris wrestling his brother in the background, attempting to get his phone back. I confessed to my sister that my new found love for fresh flowers was actually a cover for the bouquets that Chris sent regularly.

The co-pilot had come through twice to check on us. I had used the restroom six times, not knowing if it was nerves or the hormones causing my overactive bladder. The pilot himself came back just as my body started to ache from sitting so long.  
  
“We are about to start our descent, ladies. Are you all set for ground transportation once we land? I can radio the tower to call you a cab?”

“We are all set,” my sister smiled, clearly noticing how handsome the pilot was. “Her boyfriend is rich, so he sent a car. I don’t have a boyfriend, though.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him and he returned the gesture by wiggling his wedding band at her.

She turned around with a grumpy smirk. “Whatever, the co-pilot is cuter.”

“I’ll tell him you said so.” He was laughing now. “Buckle in ladies, just a few more minutes and we’ll be landing.”

My nerves took hold of me again. I whistled out my breath, shaking my hands. _This is happening. Shit. This is happening._

“Hey! Look at me.” She was smiling. Why was she smiling!? “Listen… we’ll take the car to the hotel, get freshened up and we’ll call Liz. That’s her name, right? We’ll call Liz, find Chris’s room and you’ll wait in there for him to get back.”

“What if he’s already in his room!?”

“Then you’ll go in, I’ll leave and you’ll just tell him.”

“ _Just_ tell him… just tell him,” I repeated the words like a mantra. “Just tell him!? NO! If he’s not mad, this is going to be something we remember years from now! Don’t I want it to be cute and fun?”

“Oh shit… yeah!”

I felt the plane begin its descent as we brainstormed ideas. We had no ultrasound for a cute card. I left the stick at home. I didn’t want to video tape his reaction, in case it was bad. _Shit shit shit._

“Write him a note.”

“What?”

“Write him a note! You’ll be shaking and incoherent anyway. I know how you get when you’re nervous! Write him a note and give it to him to read. Have him read it right then, in front of you. Just… you know… give it to him when the time is right.”

“Yes. Yes! You’re a genius!” I pulled my notebook from the tote bag stashed under my seat and set to work.

_Chris,_

_I knew the words wouldn’t come out right… they maybe wouldn’t have come out at all. So, I’m writing this to you instead. ~~Please don’t be mad.~~ _

_It seems that we brought home a little souvenir from Disneyland. I’m not sure if that’s actually true… it could have been sometime after… I don’t even know why I said that._

_I’m pregnant._

_< y/n> _

I folded the letter silently and tucked it into my back pocket.

“So? What did you write?”

“It’s horrible. It’s probably just as bad as if I just told him. But, it’ll be good back up in case I can’t speak.” I shrugged my shoulders and looked out the window into the dark. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not ready for this. Not any of it. I might hold on to the letter till tomorrow and just enjoy the time with him tonight.”

My sister shot me a “don’t you fuckin dare” look and crossed her arms over her chest. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply through my nose. Landings were always the scariest part for me, but I couldn’t even blame my nerves on the plane.

The landing went smoothly, thankfully. We taxied over to a chain link fence, separating the tarmac from a parking lot. There sat a large, black, SUV parked just outside the fence. Liz’s small frame was illuminated by the yellow street lamps, her scarf blowing in the wind. The sight of her calmed my nerves and I started my trek down the ramp stairs.

_I can do this. I CAN do this. I will do this. As soon as we get to the hotel. As soon as I see him, I will tell him._

“I’ll be just a second,” my sister called after me. Pausing to turn to her, I could see her with the co-pilot, their heads bowed to each other as they exchanged phone numbers. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I walked down the steps carefully. _Extra careful, extra careful. We’re walking for two now…_

Liz smiled at me, beaming almost, bouncing on her heels. I collected my suitcase from the pilot and walked quickly towards the car. The back door of the SUV opened and Chris climbed out slowly, smiling that incredible smile that I only ever saw when he laid eyes on me.

“No…” I breathed out, stopping dead in my tracks. My suitcase fell forward out of my hands, clattering to the ground. _I’m not ready. I’m NOT ready! He’s not supposed to be here! Not yet!_ I looked to Liz, confusion washing across her face. My eyes drew back to Chris, his smile falling.

“Honey…” he yelled into the wind and broke into a full sprint to close the distance between us. His steps didn’t slow until he stood before me, taking my face into his hands. I felt small and fragile in his shadow. The weight of the day crashed down on me all at once and I nearly collapsed with my heaving sobs. “Honey! <y/n> what is wrong!?”

_I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant! I’m pregnant and I’m so scared you’ll hate me!!!_

The words wouldn’t come out. Nothing would come out besides soul-wracking cries. I buried my face into his chest as he held me tighter, fully supporting my weight when my legs would no longer hold me.

“Liz… what is going on?” He questioned her, raising his voice to be heard above the wind. I couldn’t hear her response. Chris tipped his head down to my ear and spoke softly. “Baby, you have to tell me what is going on, or I can’t fix it. Please!”

I leaned my head back into his open palm and looked into his eyes.   
  
“Honey, please,” he begged.

I took a long, deep, ragged breath and closed my eyes.

“I’m pregnant,” I spoke softly. Unsure. Terrified. My eyes still closed, I could feel Chris trembling. I opened them slowly, finding Chris’ face before mine. His eyebrows were raised, tears filling his eyes.

“You’re pregnant?!” His voice was full of joy, cracking with emotion. “Are you serious!?”

I nodded my head, slowly, still hesitant.

“And I’m the father?” His face split into a wide grin as the tears spilled over. He dropped to his knees at my feet, gripping me by the waist. Eyes forward, he was staring at my belly, between my hips. I placed my hands gently in his hair.

“Yes, Chris you’re the father.” I quietly choked out. His shoulders shook and he pressed his forehead to me, crying, silently. “Chris?”

“This is amazing,” he spoke to my stomach, then looked up at me. “I’m going to be a daddy!?”

“Are you happy?” My entire body was shaking, completely shocked by his response to what I was telling him.

“Am I _happy_!?” He stood suddenly, taking my face back into his hand. “ _Of course,_ I’m happy!  <y/n> I love you! Of course, I’m _happy_!”

“I was so scared,” I struggled to look down, Chris held me firmly to look at him. A sudden realization shook me. “Wait… you _love_ me?”

“Yes!” He laughed the word out, grabbing at his chest. “<y/n> I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you.” He pressed his forehead to mine, one hand on my hip, the other holding my face. I rubbed my cheek into his warm palm. Chris kissed me softly and smiled into my lips.

“I’m sorry for just showing up… for the dramatics.”

“You gotta stop babe. This is great! This is amazing! This is…” He paused, kneeling down to look eye to eye with me. “Are _you_ happy?”

“I am! I’m just scared.” I shrugged, tears filling my eyes again.

“Don’t be scared. _Please_ don’t be scared. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere!” His hand splayed across my belly and he caressed my cheek. The tears spilled over and Chris pulled me into a bear hug.


	3. Chapter Three

The very next morning, at Chris’s insistence, we made an appointment with a local doctor for “our” first prenatal checkup.

It didn’t matter to him that I had medical insurance, that I planned to visit the doctor once I was back home, that I was fully prepared to take care of things on my own time… No, Chris pulled his celebrity card to get us in for an appointment and ultrasound, and planned to pay cash for entire thing. His name, and money I assume, got us an appointment for that very same afternoon.

“I’m not letting you leave New Mexico until I get to see my baby in grainy digitized black and white,” he insisted. Every word he spoke came out of a smile. His hand rarely left my lower stomach. We needed to tell people, soon, because they were about to figure it out on their own.

“That sounds a little creepy, Chris,” I laughed at him.

“Ok, I don’t mean it like _that_. I just… this is so… amazing,” he was sighing, staring down where his large hand splayed between my hips. “When do you think it happened?”

“I… Uh… well I’m not sure.” I looked to him bashfully, completely embarrassed.

“You’re not sure? What made you take the pregnancy test?” Confusion washed over his face.

“I was late?” I eyed him indignantly, then burst into laughter at the memory of the next few tests I took. Upon leaving the airport the night before, Chris had asked the driver to stop at a small grocery store. He bought ice cream, pickles and five pregnancy tests. I took one the moment we got to the hotel, another that night before bed, the next one first thing this morning and yet another right before we left for the doctor’s appointment. There was one more left and I just knew he’d ask me to take it when we got back, regardless of seeing the ultrasound.

“Ok…” He slipped his phone out of his pocket, eyeing my stomach as he reluctantly moved his hand to the phone. “When was your last period?” He cocked an eyebrow at me and stifled a smile.

“Oh my god, Chris. I think we’re well beyond being bashful about periods!” I playfully smacked his arm and then leaned my head onto his shoulder, spying on his phone. He had a pregnancy calculator open, to which I tapped the date of my last period into. “You know they’re going to do that for us… that’s why we’re here.”

“I know, I’m just anxious.” His smile was beaming, ever the proud daddy, already. “Four to five weeks. Wait… what?” His face fell and red crept into his cheeks.

“Hold on there cowboy,” I nearly climbed into his lap to grab his face, knowing where his mind had gone. We were not together any time between four and five weeks ago. “That’s not how they track pregnancies. Conception is a couple weeks after your period starts, but there is no physical signs of it. So they use averages and the first day of your last period.”

“OK… ok, I see that,” he pointed to the words on the screen. “Geeze, I’m sorry. That was a bit of an overreaction. So, two to three weeks ago. Oh we were _definitely_ together two to three weeks ago.”

We both erupted into a fit of giggles, remembering the weekend we spent in bed.

A nurse poked her head into the waiting room and announced that the doctor was ready to see us.

“Are you sure your sister didn’t want to come?” Chris offered his hand to help me up.

“No, she wanted to let us have this. She said she’ll be there for all the appointments that you can’t make it to, anyway.” I squeezed his hand, happy to have this moment with him.

“There’s going to be a lot of appointments, huh?”

“Oh yes there is,” the nurse chimed in as she showed us into a room.

The first part of the appointment seemed to drag on endlessly. We were anxious to get to the ultrasound. The doctor took the date we gave her and gave us an estimated due date of May 17th.   
  
“A Spring baby!” Chris smiled and rubbed my thigh. His hand remained there while the doctor asked a barrage of questions. Questions about my health, my parent’s health, my siblings’ health. The same questions for Chris. She gently explained all of the testing available, lab work, blood work. Her calm demeanor seemed to slow Chris’s frantic rubbing on my leg. Chris had more questions than I did, finally ending with a question about traveling to visit him on set.

“Well, I would be happy to be of service any time you are in the area.” She smiled warmly at me. “However, travel in your third trimester will get more and more uncomfortable the further you are along. Then I have to say that you really need to be close to the hospital you will be delivering at, near the end. You two will want to figure out a schedule, get this guy to stay with you for the last few weeks so he doesn’t miss the big day!”

“Oh no!” Chris’ face went white. “Oh no. No. No. No. May is going to be crazy. Oh no….” He pulled his phone out again, clicking and scrolling through his calendar, shaking his head slowly. 

“We’ll figure it out,” I said quietly. I pushed his phone down, forcing a smile on my face. “It will be ok.”

“Do you want to see the baby now?” The doctor stood up, sensing the tension.

“Yes!” We both jumped from our chairs and followed her to another room.

To say that our first view of our baby was emotional, would be an understatement. Chris stood at the side of the exam table, elbows on the mattress, with his chin in his hands. At the first blip on the screen, tears began to fall down his face, sprinkling my hand that was held tightly in his. When the blip focused and took the shape of a little human, Chris transformed into a sobbing puddle of happiness. The sound of the tiny, fast, heartbeat pushed us both over the edge. I hiccupped and cried into my hands, while Chris blubbered into his own.

“You two are going to be great parents,” the doc winked at us. “But, I do have one question.” She was clicking around, typing things.

Chris and I exchanged a worried look.

“Are you sure that your last cycle started 5 weeks ago?” She was smiling.

“Um… well… actually no.” I shifted uncomfortably on the bed. Chris’s eyebrows shot up and his mouth fell open. The doctor froze the screen and lifted the ultrasound wand off my belly. “It was not… normal. Sort of… light? Really light, actually.”

Chris scoffed and cleared his throat. I could feel the heat building in my cheeks as I tried to busy myself, cleaning up my bare stomach with the handful of paper towels the doctor piled onto me.

“That happens, quite often actually.” She pointed to the tiny baby on the screen. “It seems that you are more like eight to nine weeks along.”

Chris gripped my hand tightly and I knew his mind was going where it had gone before. We didn’t even know each other eight to nine weeks ago.

“So, based on how we track pregnancies, you actually got pregnant in July. About six to seven weeks ago.” She looked back and forth between us, worry starting to creep across her face.

Chris burst into laughter, clutching at his chest and leaning his head back. He laughed his tension out in heaves, finally sighing and leveling his eyes at me. I shook my head slowly at him, pursing my lips through a smile.

“We brought a souvenir back from Disneyland!” He nearly yelled. I was sure the entire doctor’s office could hear him.

“A Disney baby!” My smile was painfully wide.

“Well, Disney baby is due approximately April 17th.” The doctor scribbled notes on her clipboard and then clicked a few buttons to print photos.

“April! Oh April is so much better!” Chris’ shoulders relaxed as he took my hand into his. “I’m going to spend all of April with you. All of it. Then… then, I’ll just have to go back and forth a lot for the press tour…” His voice wandered off with his mind.

“Hey,” I squeezed his hand for attention. “It’ll be ok. We’ll figure it out.” He offered up a small smile and kissed the back of my hand.

“You’re right, we will figure it out.” He whispered into my palm, planting another kiss and then rubbing his cheek into my hand.

“Right now, we need to worry about telling people.” Chris stood up straight and cleared his throat at my statement.

“Already? Do we want to tell everyone right away?” His hand absentmindedly went to my belly again, rubbing gentle circles.

“Well, unless you plan on keeping your hands _off_ my belly, we’re going to have to tell _some_ people.” I couldn’t help but giggle at the look of surprise on his face, when he realized where his hand was.

“Everyone is going to dinner later tonight,” he rubbed my stomach with soft purpose now. “Maybe we can tell the cast? So we can just be happy about it, together, and not have to worry about hiding something.”

“I’m ok with that.” I put my hand over his and laughed, eyeing the doctor, realizing she was still there too. “Sorry, doc.”

“Oh no, you’d be surprised by the things that are said and done in here!”

“I don’t think we want to know,” Chris was chuckling as he helped me off the table. “Actually…” Now he was eyeing me, with _that_ look. “I have another question. Last one, I promise.”

“Sex is fine, all through the pregnancy, so long as nothing comes up that says otherwise.” The doc deadpanned her reply to the question that floated in Chris’ head.

“Yes!” Chris hopped and pulled his fist down in a celebratory gesture, prompting laughter from us ladies present.

We all filed out the door, the doctor explaining that I would need to set up my prenatal care at home, that my records here would be available for my new doctor to request. I heard very little of it, as I had Chris’ hands on my hips, his body pressed to my back and his mouth whispering in my ear.

“You are not going to make it two steps back into that hotel room when we get back.” He squeezed, digging his fingertips into my skin. “I’m going to have you naked before the door closes.”  
  
“You promise?” I teased him, my mind going to the night before, when he was scared to touch me.

…

Chris kept his promise. I didn’t make it two steps into the hotel room before he was pulling my clothes off. We barely even made it to the bed, but when we did, he paused his pursuit. Completely bare to him, he ghosted his hands over my skin, halting over my lower stomach. His eyes flicked up to mine as he palmed me, fingers spreading over my noticeably firmer belly.

“I swear you are more beautiful than ever, right now.” He growled the words out, his smile turned devilish and crawled up to pepper my face with kisses.

We made slow, sweet, love. A stark and amazing contrast to our first night of unbridled passion in Disneyland. Never the less, we fell apart more sated than I thought possible.

“Jesus, that was different,” Chris panted.

“Different… but good!” I rolled to my stomach wrapping myself in the bedsheet as I went. “You know, I’ve basically been pregnant this entire time we’ve been…”

“Together.” He finished the sentence with a nod of his head and furrowed brows.

“Yes, together,” I couldn’t help but laugh.

“While that may be true, but I didn’t _know_ you were pregnant…” He started tracing lines on my bare shoulder. “Now I know and… you know me… I get all emotional.” His voice went sweet and I couldn’t help but smile at this big muscly man before me, all sensitive over a tiny human that neither of us had met yet.

“You are adorable.” I kissed his hand and struggled against the sheet to get closer to him.

“Come here you little burrito,” Chris easily pulled me up to him, settling me to lay my head on his shoulder, trapped between his arm and his chest… still cocooned in the bed sheet. Essentially pinned down, I was defenseless to his barrage of kisses.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish,” I playfully warned him.

“Oh I finished you alright!” He cradled me into his arms, sitting himself up to lean against the headboard and buried his face in my neck. “We _should_ get dressed for dinner though… and maybe go find your sister?”

“I’ll call her, have her come over here. I want to show her the ultrasound pictures!” I struggled again to free myself, to no avail.

“Hold on there little lady,” he nearly whined. “We’ve got a little time. Maybe we can figure out a fun way to announce to everyone at dinner?”

“Oooooh,” I settled back into his lap. “Yes, lets!”


	4. Chapter Four

When it came time for dinner, my nervous stomach nearly kept me in the hotel room. My sister wasn’t having any of it, whining that she would feel guilty leaving me there, but wanted to meet the cast. The car ride over was full of squeals and giggles, my sister and I pressed together in the back seat, fawning over the ultrasound pictures.

“This baby is going to be so damn cute!” She repeated the statement often, for every grainy black and white picture.

“Of course she is!” Chris piped up from the driver seat.

“She!?” My sister and I cried out in unison.

“Yeah… I just have a feeling.” He winked at me in the rearview mirror. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s a boy,” I jeered, sticking my tongue out at him.

Chris chuckled, pulling into a parking spot at the small Mexican restaurant. There was little worry about paparazzi, being in such a small, remote town. All the same, the cast and crew consistently chose this place, knowing that the staff was polite and wouldn’t ask for more than a group photo at the end of the meal.

“You ready?” Chris helped me out of the tall SUV, smiling like the proud daddy that he was.

“Nope.” I shook my head. “You’re gonna have to do all the talking.”

“Well, good thing I’m good at talking.” We headed inside to find almost everyone seated. Chris and I made the rounds, introducing my sister to everyone. I dodged several questions of “Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?!” by laughing out short answers of “Just wanted to surprise Chris.”

After everyone had settled back down, Chris began a relentless assault on my thigh. He had started with slow caresses, increasing to near frantic rubbing as time went on.

“You’re going to start a fire on my leg!” I whispered in his ear, pressing my hand down on his, to cease the movements.

“I’m sorry,” he tipped his head to me, pressing our foreheads together. “You ready? I don’t think I can wait much longer.”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I sighed, eyeing my sister. She caught my look and let out a little yelp in excitement.

Chris stood, picking up his beer glass and raising it as if to toast the table.

“Ladies and gents, I’ve got something to share with you all.” Conversations ceased instantly and everyone turned in their chairs towards Chris. Anthony was nearly bouncing in anticipation, knowing that Chris was about to tell them all something very exciting.

“First I want to thank you all for being so loving and accepting of <y/n> and our relationship,” He continued. “It means the world to me to have my friends be so supportive, no matter how crazy we are and no matter how little time we’ve known each other.” He winked at me.

“Dude, get on with it!” Anthony teased from the far end of the table, his hands cupping his mouth in a dramatic mock shout.

“I’m getting there,” Chris pointed to Anthony and tipped his head, smirking. He took a deep breath to steady himself and turned to me. “This isn’t something that we are prepared to reveal to the masses, but among good friends, we want to be able to share in our happiness.”

Scarlett inhaled sharply, covering her mouth. Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up, his mouth falling open in a shocked smile. I could barely hold my nervous energy in, bouncing my heels under the table.

“I call dibs on Best Man!” Anthony shouted for real this time, prompting Chris’ infamous chest clutching laugh.

“Well, we’ll talk about that when we get there.” His response was greeting with an offended and confused look on Anthony’s face.

“Man, tell us!” Sebastian’s excitement was palpable.

“<y/n> and I brought a little souvenir back from Disneyland,” Chris’ face split into a grin. He set his beer glass down and offered his hand to me. His opposite hand grazed my stomach as I stood and he put his arm around my waist, pulling me tight to him. “Our little souvenir is due in the middle of April.”

The quiet announcement was met with shouts of joy, gasping, laughing, cries of “I knew it!” and more raucous jubilance that I was expecting. In that moment, his friends became my friends, too. Everyone pushed towards us, hugging, shaking hands, laughing, crying.

“You are going to be an amazing mother.” Scarlett held me by my shoulders at arm’s length, tears in her eyes. “And that is going to be one cute baby!” We embraced, both of us crying.

Liz ducked and pushed her way through the group, finally standing face to face with Chris.

“Are you serious right now!?” She smacked his arm and then turned to repeat the same question to me. “Are you _serious_!?”

“Very serious,” I laughed at the way she was huffing the question out.

“Why didn’t you tell me!?” She squealed. “Is this why you needed to come out here? To tell _him_!?” I nodded, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“Wait! Dude!? When did you guys find out!?” Anthony cried out.

“I took a test yesterday afternoon, then flew out here last night and told him.”

“Last night!?” He yelled again.

“Yeah man… It’s been… it’s been a whirlwind.” Chris reached down to pull the ultrasound pictures from my purse. He came back up beaming. I was not going to get tired of that proud daddy smile, not ever. “Check these out!” Chris started passing photos out, pointing out features in each. Tiny legs, button nose, head, back. I pointed out suspected boy parts, getting a laugh from Chris.

“When _will_ you know if it’s a boy or girl?” Sebastian was peering down at a photo in his hand, a look of wonder on his face.

“Around twenty weeks… I’m eight or nine right now.”

“Are you going to tell everyone?” He looked up at me now, excitement building in his eyes.

“Yeah,” I pulled my eyebrows together and looked to Chris, who was nodding at me. “Yeah, I think we will.”

“Yes!” Sebastian pumped his fist in the air. “I mean, you kinda need to, now. You can’t tell us you’re pregnant the day after you find out and then plan to keep other things from us.” The entire group laughed.

“Well, we had to tell you all because Chris’s hand hasn’t left my stomach for more than thirty seconds since I told him.” I beamed to Chris, who happily laid his hand across my belly.

“Yeah, we would have figured it out soon enough.” Anthony cackled. “I bet you slept like that too, didn’t you. Your hand holding her, all night long.”

“I did, actually.” Chris smiled bashfully and kissed the top of my head.

…

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging around the hotel room. My sister came and went, spending time with a few of the production crew guys, bar hopping and hiking the local hills. Chris was doting, opening every door, pulling out every chair… picking things up from the floor as if I was already round and unable to do it myself.

“I’m going to get used to this and not be able to fend for myself when I get back home,” I poked him in the ribs as he stood from retrieving my phone that I had just dropped.

“I’m going to come visit as often as I can.” He rubbed his hands up and down my arms, hips jutted forward as he leaned back, studying my face. “And I want to be there when you tell your parents.”

“You… what? Really?” My eyes went wide and the thought of telling them.

“Yes, _really_. You don’t have to do that alone. We both played a part and I want them to know that I’m not going anywhere.”

“Chris,” I started, then sighed heavily. “They don’t even know I’m seeing anyone. I only told my sister when she basically walked in on me taking the pregnancy test.”

“Well, it can be multiple conversations at once.” His lips pulled tight in closed mouth smile. I could almost feel the anxiety rising in him.

“I really think I want to tell them alone.” I looked down, frowning.

“What, are you ashamed of me?” He joked, pulling my chin back up between his thumb and first finger.

“Of Captain America? Yeah _right_!” My eyes rolled and hung my head back. “I just, I don’t know.” I looked forward again, catching Chris in a confused shake of his head and pressed my forehead to the center of his chest, speaking to my feet. “I just think it will go over a little better with my father if I tell him alone.”

“I don’t want you to have to do it alone. I want to be there for you.” He was almost whining, resting his chin on the top of my head.

“I won’t be alone, I’ll bring my sister. She’s a great buffer.” I giggled at the reference to my sister’s constant comedic relief.

“But I’m your…” he trailed off.

“You’re my what?” I wiggled my head out from under his chin and looked up at him.

“You’re baby daddy?” His eyes squinted as he smirked, turning his head slightly to look at me from the corner of his eye. I burst into laughter.

“Captain America is my baby daddy,” I roared. “This is just too good!”

“Staaaaahp,” he called out exasperated, leaning back again with bent knees.

“What would Peggy Carter think of Steve Rogers the baby daddy,” I shook my head, tisking a finger at him.

“She’d roll over in her grave,” he chuckled at me, wrapping me in a warm hug. “Are you sure about this? Absolutely sure?” His voice was low, his lips in my hair.

“I’m sure,” I whispered, completely unsure. “You can ride in on your white horse later, show everyone what a knight in shining armor you truly are. Once the shock has worn off.”

“As long as you’re sure.”

I wasn’t.


	5. Chapter Five

Telling my parents went about as well as I could have hoped. No one yelled at me. No one stormed out. No one hulked out in a fit of rage. On the flip side, I didn’t get confetti and squeals of delight either.  
  
My sister sat with me, her hand resting on my leg for emotional support. I cried into my lap, my hands laying palm up, catching my tears. When the words finally came out, my sister put her arm around my shoulders and squeezed.

“How did this happen?” My mom asked, plainly.

“Really mom? Do we need to have _the talk_?” My sister’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. I let out a snort, stifled a giggle, cleared my throat and squared my shoulders, looking my mother in the eyes.

“We used protection.”

“Yeah, multiple layers of it.” My sister snorted, this time. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Sadly, yes. We used multiple precautions and it still happened, mom. I wasn’t being ‘unsafe’ or anything,” I curled my fingers in the air.

“Where is the father? _Who_ is the father?” My dad was questioning me know, his hands wringing in his lap.

“He wanted to come, but I asked him not to. I thought it would be better to tell you alone.” I looked to my sister, questioning my stupid idea. “Maybe that was a bad move.”

“No,” she cooed at me, squeezing my shoulders again. “No, I think we would have all been distracted if he were here.” At that we both burst into giggles, leaning towards each other.

“What does that even mean?” My mom was fighting a smile.

“The father is… very… attractive,” my sister gasped out between laughing.

“Here’s the thing.” I scooted forward to the edge of the coffee table I was perched on, nearly touching knees with my parents on the couch. “We met in Disneyland. We’ve been seeing each other ever since. This was obviously not planned, but he has every intent of sticking around and doing the right thing.”

“Well that’s only somewhat reassuring, considering he’s not here to tell me himself.” My dad stood suddenly and crossed the room.

“Dad, _please_.” I was begging. “That really was my idea. He really wanted to be here with me when I told you.” I looked to my sister for any sort of support.

“Dad, you need to at least listen to her and trust what she’s saying. She’s not trying to hide anything, that’s why she’s here right now, in front of you, telling you what is going on.”

“You know what, it’s fine.” I shook my head and stood up. “When you meet him, you’ll understand that he’s a great guy.” I stood in front of my father, looking back and forth between him and my mother. “On top of that, I am a 34 year old woman. I have a very successful business that is thriving. I own my house and my car is paid off, both thanks to the business that I built from nothing. I’m not asking for your opinion or for your blessing. I’m not asking for your support financially. I’m telling you that I’m having a baby and that I would like you to be a loving part of this baby’s life, as it’s grandparents. Take as much time as you need for the shock to wear off. I get that I didn’t do things in the order you would have wished, but that can’t be changed now. There is no going back.”

“Damn, well said! My sister was staring at me in shock. “I want to start a slow clap, but I’d be the only one clapping.”

“No.” My mother jumped from the couch and walked to me with her hands out, palms up. When she reached me, she took my face in her hands. “No, you’re right. You’re so right. We love you and we have never been anything but proud of you. Proud of your accomplishments and proud of who you are as a person.” She kissed my forehead and then shot my father a stern look. “You are right about the shock though.”

My father scoffed and crossed his arms.

“You stop.” Her voice meant business facing my father, but dropped back to soft and motherly when she turned to me again. “We love you. We’re just a little shocked that we’re going to be grandparents before we’ve even met this boyfriend of yours.”

“Oh my god, I told you! I told you he wanted to be here. Right now. He did! It was my stupid idea for him to wait.” I threw my hands up in exasperation, tears welling up in my eyes.

“Ok.” Dad’s voice was gravelly, before he cleared his throat and put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t a fair reaction. I’m just… surprised, that’s all.” He pulled me away from my mother and into a hug. “Just, bring the boy here so we can meet him.”

“I will,” I choked out, overtaken by my father’s sudden sentiment. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.” He pulled me in tighter and my mom and sister joined in for a group hug.

“I’m glad you didn’t just show up with him, though. I haven’t even swept the floors today.” Mom’s words were thick with emotion, but we all laughed at her through our sniffles.

A lot of tears and even more long embraces went around the room. When mom started to collect the used tissues, calm had settled back in the house. I whispered to my sister that I was going to call Chris and stepped out onto the back porch.

“Hey baby mama,” Chris chirped.

“Hi honey,” I sighed back.

“You ok? You nervous?”

“No,” I chuckled. “I just got done telling them.”

“Oh!” I could almost see the look of surprise on his face. “How did it go?”

“Well… you were right?” I pressed the heel of my hand to my forehead, expecting an ‘I told you so’.

“Oh honey, oh no. I’m so sorry.” He sighed. “I should have come anyway. I could have… I could have been on standby or something. I’m so sorry.”

“Stop,” I groaned. “This was my idea and I’m grateful that you respected my stupid decision.”

“It wasn’t stupid. I get why you wanted to do it this way.” His voice was sad. “What happen, though?”

“My dad basically asked who you were and why you weren’t here with me to tell them.” I grimaced, worried how the words would hit Chris.

“Damnit. I’m so sorry.”

“Please stop saying you’re sorry.” I paced the porch, poking at a raised nail with the toe of my shoe. “They want to meet you though. So that’s good.”

“Should I wear a bullet proof vest?” he joked.

“I don’t think so.” I jeered back at him. “But maybe hide a knife in your pocket, to cut your wrists free from the ropes after he drops you off in the woods.”

“Duly noted.” I could hear him smiling through the words. “When should I come?”

“Um… I don’t know.” I looked up to the kitchen window, catching a glimpse of my mom washing the lunch dishes. “We didn’t get that far. Soon, though.”

“I’ll come right now.” A door opened and slammed back shut, on the other end of the line.

“You’ll what?” I yelped.

“I’m serious, I’ll come right now… or as soon as I can get on a plane.” Knocking pierced the silence at the end of his statement, followed by his near frantic voice. “Liz! Liz! Are you in there? I need your help with something.”

“Chris! Oh my god, you don’t have to come right now!”

“Yes, I do!” He replied, quickly. “LIZ! Thank god! I need a flight to see <y/n>. Yes, right now. No she’s fine, I just need to see her.” I could barely make out Liz’s voice. She must have been so confused. “Honey, ask your parents if they’re free for dinner.”

“Tonight.” I stated incredulously.

“Yes, tonight. Should we go out or… your place? Your parents?” His instructions to Liz were muffled now, between questions to me. “Whatever you think is best. I’m gonna call you back in a couple minutes, once me and Liz get this hashed out.”

“Ok?” I turned to see my sister at the back door, shooting a questioning look. I shrugged my shoulders back to her.

“Hey.” He said it softly, but with purpose.

“Hey.” I nearly whispered back.

“I love you. You know that, right?”

“Yes.”

“ _Do_ you? Really?” He questioned me.

“I think so?”

“I do. I’m going to show that to you.” The conviction in his voice cut right through me. “I will call you right back, ok?”

“Ok,” I choked out.

“Bye honey.”

“Bye.”

I tapped the END button and shook my head at my phone.

“So?” My sister was leaning her shoulder on the doorframe, arms crossed.

“So… he’s booking a flight. He wants to have dinner with mom and dad. Tonight.”

“MOM!” My sister shouted, turning her head back into the house. “Better sweep the floors!”

“What!? Why!?” I could hear my mother’s muffled yelp.

“Because, Captain America is coming over for dinner!”


	6. Chapter Six

Mom nearly lost her mind over her surprise dinner guest, fussing around the house, worrying about what she should wear, what we should have for dinner, sweeping the floor repeatedly, telling my sister to put on something ‘more appropriate’.

“Mom,” I stopped her in the hallway and took her by the shoulders firmly. “We can go to my place for dinner. We can even go out to dinner. Please just relax, this is stressful enough.”

“No, no no no. My baby is going to have a baby and today I’m meeting her… her…” her brows furrowed just before she raised a single eyebrow to me.

“Baby daddy?” I snorted.

“Ugh, no. NO! We can’t call him that. What can we call him?”

“Captain America.” My sister stated dryly, poking her head down hallway, from the living room.

“Why do you keep saying that?” She scowled at my sister. “Why does she keep saying that?” She turned her attention to me, eyes wide. “What is his name again?”

“Chris. Mom, his name is Chris.” I sighed.

“Isn’t Captain America named Steve?” She questioned. “You know, we took your cousin Mikey to see the movie. He hasn’t stopped talking about it since then.”

“Yes, mom. I know”. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Please, can we just to go my house? I’ll run to the store, grab stuff for dinner, you and Dad can come later… Chris will be there. So much less stress, Mom. Please!”

“No. That boy is going to come to this house and meet your father.” She crossed her arms and the conversation was clearly over. “Will you sweep the dining room, just one more time? I think I missed a spot.”

“Sure mom.” I walked away shaking my head as my phone chirped in my pocket. I slipped it out to see a message from Chris.

[CHRIS]: I have wifi on the plane. YAY. How’s everything going?

[ME]: Mom has swept every room no less than 167 times.

[CHRIS]: Oh no… do you think she’ll make it?

[ME]: Not if my sister has anything to do with it. Pretty sure she’s about to force feed mom a valium.

[CHRIS]: Ask her to wait till I get there. ;) Did you tell her who I am?

[ME]: No…

[CHRIS]: Maybe you should do it before I get there?

[ME]: Maybe…

[CHRIS]: I hate to say it, but I was right about being with you when you told them you’re pregnant…

[ME]: UGH. FINE. :P

[CHRIS]: Don’t pout because I’m right. ;)

[ME]: Just, don’t say ‘I told you so’. K?

[CHRIS:] Scouts honor.

[ME]: You were a boy scout!? That is ADORABLE!

[CHRIS]: Stop, goober! Hey, what’s the address again? We should land around 5:45, so I should be at your parents by 6:15.

I typed back my parents address and sat down at the dining room table. This was going to be interesting, at best.

“MOM!” I called to her from my seat.

My sister rushed into the room and nearly knocked a chair over as she threw herself into it.

“Oh my god, are you about to tell her who Chris is!?” Her eyes were wide and her hands were spread palm down on the dining room table, still steadying herself.

“Apparently.” The edge of my mouth twitched in a smile, reading Chris’s response of ‘Thank you honey’ and I set my phone off to the side.

“YES! This is going to be so good! I better buy her a second broom for Christmas!” She settled her chin into her balled hands, smiling wide, as our mother walked into the room.

…

Mom had freaked, demanding pictures of the two of us together, as proof. Then pictures of Chris from the internet, to compare. Then paparazzi pictures of the two of us together, for who knows what reason. It was decided that Chris had to meet cousin Mikey, as soon as possible.

All too soon dinner was ready and the four of us were standing in the living room, awaiting Chris’s arrival. Somehow the soft knock at the door still made my mother and I jump. My sister made an attempt to get to the door first but, Dad stopped her and strode purposefully across the room to open the front door.

There Chris stood, with only the screen door separating him from my family. He smiled politely, with a soft ‘hello’. He stood confidently, a backpack in his other hand. His large frame seemed to fill the doorway view of him. No one but me could tell, he was nervous.

Dad pushed the screen door open with his left hand and Chris quickly took Dad’s right hand, with his own, shaking it firmly.

“Mr. <y/l/n>, it is so night to meet you.”

“Likewise. Though, I’d rather have met you before I became a grandfather.” They both chuckled deeply and settled into a long awkward pause. Dad suddenly pulled Chris in for a hug. “I do appreciate you coming out here. I really do.” They separated, hands still shaking, adding their free hands into the mix to grasp the shake.

“Ok, you manly men. Don’t hog all the baby daddy to yourselves!” My sister’s voice was sing song, breaking the tension.

“Come here!” Mom rushed across the room and threw her arms around Chris’s waist.

“Well HI, Mrs. <Y/L/N> I presume?” Chris’s smile beamed at me.

“Yes! Oh my goodness, yes. I’m so sorry!” She pulled her body away, leaving her hands on Chris’s hips to look at him. “You really are very handsome. This baby is going to be gorgeous!”

“I have to agree with you there. Just look at your daughter!” He gestured toward me with an open palm. I blushed and quickly covered my face with my hands.

“Absolutely,” mom gazed over to me. Her face broke into a smile and she turned back to Chris. “You are quite the charmer, aren’t you…” Her voice trailed off when she noticed the way Chris was looking at me. “Or… or you really just love my daughter.”

“I do.” Chris smiled, never breaking eye contact with me. “Very much.”

“OK, Prince Charming, this isn’t a Disney movie,” my sister pipped up, nearly pushing our mother out of the way to hug Chris.

“Hey sister.” Chris pulled her into a playful hug, shaking her back and forth.

“Hey brother.” She laughed, repeating the moniker they had given each other over the weekend in New Mexico. “Go get your girl.”

Chris stepped into the house and walked slowly to me, taking me by the shoulders to look at me.

“You doin’ ok?” He was slightly crouched, looking up into my eyes.

“I’m ok.” I smiled at him, leaning forward to press against him. He wrapped his arms around me and hummed into my hair. “Better now,” I smiled.

“Good.” He kissed the top of my head then pulled me away to arm’s length again, kissing my cheek, then my forehead and pulling me into another embrace.

“My goodness, you two are adorable!” Mom nearly squealed from behind Chris. “I’m so glad you came. I’m so glad you’re here… I’m so glad you told me who he IS before he got here!” Mom eyed me from around Chris’s shoulder.

“Yeah, mom… because we wouldn’t have wanted this to be awkward or anything.” My sister snorted.

“You. Stop teasing your mother!” Dad pointed a finger at my sister, who bobbed and ducked as if avoiding something shooting from said finger.

“Alcohol is this way, brother.” She skipped off towards the kitchen.

“Thank. God.” Chris whispered in my ear as we followed her out of the living room.

…

Seated around Mom and Dad’s dining room table the conversation had eased into something far more comfortable. We were all laughing with ease, almost forgetting mom’s famous spaghetti.

“Did you have fun in New Mexico?” Mom eyed my sister over a forkful of salad.

“Mom, I got to meet like, the ENTIRE cast! Of course I had fun!” Her words were muffled by the food in her mouth and the napkin she held up to hide it.

“How much fun did you have?” An eyebrow went up as she delicately placed the food in her mouth and began to chew slowly.

“Oh my god mom!” Her napkin went flying across the table, landing just short of mom’s plate. “I’m not the pregnant one.”

Chris snorted and stifled a laugh, his mouth full of food. I elbowed him discreetly, which only perpetuated his giggles. Leaning forward he held his own napkin over his entire face, shaking with laughter.

“I’m sorry,” he shook his head, still laughing. “This is just great. This just reminds me of dinners with my family.”

“Have you told your family yet?” Dad stared Chris down over his glass of water.

“No, no I haven’t.” Chris cleared his throat, straightened up and wiped the edges of his mouth with his napkin. “I was hoping to take <y/n> to Boston with me, to tell them.”

“Ah, tell them together. What a novel idea.” Dad was now eyeing me, setting his glass down.

My mouth dropped open in silent protest, but no words of objection would come out.

“Oh, give her a break Dad!” My sister was collecting her napkin, by leaning nearly her entire body over the table. “If you’re not nice, I’ll tell you what I really did in New Mexico.” She turned her head to face me and winked, before slinking back into her seat.

“You are going to be the death of me,” mom yelped.

“Hey now, like I said, I’m not the one that’s pregnant.” She gave her shoulders a sassy shake and dug back into her spaghetti.

“So after you tell your family, what is the plan?” Dad sat back in his chair, pushing his place setting around, neatly lining everything up.

“The plan is to have a baby.” I channeled my sister’s legendary sarcasm.

“Cute,” Dad smirked.

I looked to Chris, who winked at me.

“Well, we haven’t had a chance to work through all the details. But I do know that I will be taking all of April off, at the very least.”

“Hmmm,” Dad pondered his thoughts, spinning his water glass in his hand. “Where will you stay?”

“Where ever she wants me to,” Chris spoke confidently, reaching for my hand to squeeze and smiling at me.

“That is good to hear.” Dad smiled and sighed with relief.

Mom stood and started to collect dishes, my sister quickly joined, shooting me a wide eyed look to signal me to help them. I stood up, much to Chris’s protest as he clung to my hand.

“No, no. You ladies sit down, I’ll clear the dishes.” Chris pushed his chair back with his free hand and stood up.

“Actually,” Dad rose to his feet and continued. “Chris, maybe we could have a beer on the deck and talk for a bit.” He walked to the back door and opened it, gesturing out toward the deck.

“Absolutely, Mr. <Y/L/N>.” Chris nodded as Dad slipped out the door. Chris turned to me, wide eyed with panic “Where’s the beer?”

My sister grabbed Chris’s hand and nearly drug him into the kitchen. My grabbed my hand and followed, dragging me along. Whispered squeals filled the kitchen, mom shushing us, Chris pantomiming panic by throwing his hands around, my sister grabbing beer from the fridge, nearly dropping them both, me frantically riffling through a drawer to find the bottle opener.

“Do you have a pocket knife?” I yelped to Chris.

“What!? NO!” His face incredulous. “I thought you were joking about that!”

“HA! I was! I meant like… a swiss army knife!” I burst into laughter. “To open the beer!”

“Oh shit!” Chris leaned back laughing. “Oh I’m a mess!”

“You are fine!” I fussed, placing my hands on his chest, smoothing out his shirt. “He just wants to get to know you… I think.”

“Don’t let him scare you.” My sister was at Chris’s shoulder, holding out the two long necks. “His bark is worse than his bite.

“If it’s any consolation,” mom was rubbing Chris’s bicep, “I like you.”

“Thanks,” Chris chuckled. I bit back a smile, watching my mom with her hand still on Chris.

The men were outside, talking in deep hushed voices. The ladies were crowded at the sink, on tip toe, pretending to wash the dishes. In reality, we were each washing and rewashing the same dish, over and over again, craning our necks in an attempt to hear what Dad and Chris were saying. The window over the sink was slid open all the way, but the distance between the window and the patio table that the men were sitting out, dampened our ability to eaves drop.

“What do you think they’re saying?” I whispered. I was met with loud shushing and I set the plate that I had clearly scrubbed into oblivion, down into the soapy water.

They seemed at ease, both leaning back in their chairs, legs extended forward and crossed at the ankles. Chris picked at the label on his bottle, Dad spun his bottle on his leg. Their nervous ticks only obvious only to those that knew them well, but not to each other. We watched as they laughed, scowled and sighed. Whatever they were talking about, it was intense.

Chris spotted our heads in the window and gave a small wave. All three of us ducked down, as if caught spying on strangers. My sister and I collapsed into giggles, leaning our backs against the cabinet under the sink. Mom was doubled over, laughing silently into her hands.

“This is silly,” my sister hiccupped between laughs. “You’ll just ask Chris was they talked about and you’ll tell us later, right?”

“Obviously!” I could barely contain my laughter.

“Ok, girls!” Mom stood up and pulled at the wrinkles on her shirt. “Let’s get this cleaned up and I’ll put on some coffee for dessert.”

“What are we making for dessert?” My sister stood and put out a hand to help me up.

“Oh I already made it.” Mom opened the fridge and pulled out a cheesecake.

“When did you make a cheesecake!?” I nearly shouted in surprised, being pulled to standing.

“Oh y’know,” she waived her hand dismissively and pulled the plastic wrap off, revealing a beautiful cheesecake covered in chocolate ganache.

“Mom! You didn’t have to do that!” I cried out

“Oh shhh. Would you make the coffee?”

…

That evening Chris and I sat in my car in the parking lot of the tiny local airport. Two runways, a control tower that you could see into from the parking lot, a set of bleachers with a small stage in front and a playground for children when they got bored of watching planes taking off and landing.

It was dark and quiet in the car. The lot was deserted, minus a handful of white sedans from the rental car business, all parked in a line against the fence. We watched the control tower from the car. A man at a computer, clicking and typing away. A woman pacing the floor, coffee mug in hand, speaking intermittently into a headset. A few planes had come and gone. We sat in silence, waiting for the plane that would take Chris back to New Mexico.

“I wish I could stay longer.” His thumb ran over the back of my hand, both of us looking down at our intertwined fingers.

“Me too.” I sighed heavily.

“You ok?”

“I am, just tired. It’s been a long day.” I giggled, remembering how simply the day had started, before I decided it was time to tell Mom and Dad.

“It has, but it’s done and it went extremely well. In my opinion anyway.” He turned my face to him, grasping my chin between his thumb and the knuckle of his first finger.

“Yeah, well… you weren’t there in the beginning.” I winced at my own words.

“I wanted to be,” he stated quietly.

“I know. I’m sorry.” I dropped my head, frowning into my lap, only to be pulled up once again. Chris gently pressed his lips to mine, sighing into the kiss.

“Don’t be sorry. Please. You have nothing to be sorry for.” He leaned his forehead against mine and smiled. “Besides, we still get to tell my family and that is going to be wayyyy more interesting than your dad threatening my life if I abandoned you and the baby.”

“He did what!?” I yelped, my voice reverberating in the small space.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” He jeered and then placed a hand on my stomach. I sighed at the warmth, having craved his touch the entire visit with my parents. “If I end up in the same position with this little lady, you bet your ass I’ll be having the same talk.”

“This,” I pointed to my stomach, “is a boy!”

“We’ll see,” he chirped defiantly. His hands flew to my face and he took my mouth with his own. I tugged at his shirt collar desperately, nearly pulling a moan from him with my hands. “Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

“Who said I can’t finish?”


	7. Chapter Seven

“You nervous?” Chris leaned over to whisper in my ear.

“Uh…. Yeah! Of course, I am!” I pouted my lower lip, mindlessly flipping through the channels of the small television in front of me.

“They’re going to love you, you know.” He scooted to the edge of his seat and leaned his chin on my shoulder, continuing to whisper into my ear. “Everyone is going to love you.”

“They, better! I’m fantastic!” I staged whispered back to him, grinning. “That’s not what I’m worried about, though.”

“My mom is going to flip. It’s going to be great!” He kissed my cheek and leaned away.

“You wanna know something? I’ve never flown first class before! This is nice!” I looked back to the television screen, still flipping through channels.

“I take it you don’t want to talk about this right now?”

“I mean… I’m gonna get used to this. Even if we don’t work out…” I pointed back and forth between the two of us, “…you’re gonna have to keep buying me first class flights.”

“You’re a brat.” He chuckled.

“The free champagne is a nice touch too.” I stopped the television on the Disney Channel and turned to grin sarcastically at Chris. “If only I could drink it.”

“Ok, point taken.” He subdued a laugh and took my hand in his. “But, I’ll buy you all the champagne you want, to celebrate when our little lady is born.”

“Our little man,” I jeered. “Actually… I do want to talk about something.”

“Ok?” He turned his body toward me.

“What have you told your family?”

“Ha,” he exhaled sharply, pursed his lips and quickly tipped his head to the side and back up. “Not a lot actually.”

“What does that mean?” I asked slowly.

“Well, obviously they know I’m seeing someone. My sister called you that one day when she caught me texting you…” he trailed off.

“Yes, but it seemed like you didn’t want her to know my name.”

“That!” His eyebrows shot up and he held his hands up defensively. “That… there is a reason for that!”

“Ok?” I stared at him expectantly. “What is the reason? What’s with you and names? Or is it just my name?”

A ‘ding’ echoed through the airplane cabin and the pilot came over the loudspeaker to announce our descent into Boston Logan Airport. Chris reached over to help me with my seatbelt, peering up to wink mockingly.

“Really? Really? Did my sister tell you about our flight to New Mexico?” I fumbled my hands with his, trying to buckle my own seat belt. My shaking hands made the effort fruitless.

“Maybe.” He giggled. GIGGLED! Ugh.

Chris held my hand through the entire landing and refused to let go as we taxied to our gate. Being in First Class had many advantages, the biggest being that we were able to exit the aircraft before the rest of the passengers and nearly ran all the way to the taxi line. We piled into a cab, pulling our carry on bags into our laps, laughing hysterically. Chris gave the driver the address and we settled back in our seats, trying to calm our laughter.

“We were having a conversation before,” I tried to turn toward Chris but was stopped by my bag.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grinned and shook his head dramatically. “Here, let me hold your bag.” He pulled my bag from my lap and stacked our two bags between us on the seat.

“I can still see you,” I peered over the bags. Chris reached his long arm over the stack, snatched my purse and added it to the top of the stack. “Chris!”

“What?” He leaned forward and peeked around the bags.

“Chris.” I tilted my head and lowered my voice, attempting to sound serious.

“Honey,” he cooed back.

“Are you visiting Boston for business or pleasure?” the driver interrupted.

“Oh! I’m actually from Boston. I’m bringing my girl to meet my parents for the first time!” Chris replied excitedly and leaned forward, his shoulder pressing against the partition. They immediately fell into a conversation that was obviously meant to delay our conversation. I rolled my eyes and rested my head on the window, taking in Boston as it sped by.

I had just started to doze off, exhausted from the cross country flight, when the taxi rumbled to a stop. I sat myself upright and my heart dropped at the sight of a house. A house! Not the hotel that Chris had promised we were staying at.

“Chris!?” I couldn’t contain my irritation.

“Yes?” He eyed me under his brows as he started to collect our bags.

“What are we doing?”

“We are meeting my parents.” He scowled in mock innocence.

“You said we were staying at a hotel. That you didn’t want to ‘overwhelm me’ with your family.” I finger quoted the air as he slipped out the passenger side of the car and closed the door.

“Well, my mother was having none of that,” he chuckled, appearing at my door and opening it for me.

“Excuse me?” I refused the hand he offered and crossed my arms over my chest.

“She wants us to stay at the house and wouldn’t take no for an answer.” He wiggled his hand at me, insinuating for me to take it.

“Chris.”

“<y/n>,” he nearly growled.

“I’m not ready for this. I at least wanted to brush my hair… and my teeth. Flying makes me feel gross!”

“Babe,” he insisted. “Get. Out. Of. The. Car.” Each word was staccato with dramatic pronunciation. “This is happening. Right now. We’re not ready for any of it, but right now, you are meeting my family. Right now. Get out.” He was grabbing at my hand now, stifling a laugh. “We will tell them about the baby later, but right now you are getting out of this car!”

I pulled my hands down, hoping my full weight would be enough to anchor me in the car. It wasn’t. Not even close. Chris pulled me out easily, spun me away from the car and hip-checked the door to close it.

“Fine.” I scowled at him.

“Thank you,” he smiled and kissed me hastily while reaching into his back pocket for his wallet.

“Wait!” I yelped. Chris’s hand froze midair, a few bills folded in his hand. “Your FAMILY!? As in… everyone? Like, not just your parents? Your siblings too!?”

“Uh…” Chris’s eyes searched the street, the driveway and settled back on me. “Yep. Looks like everyone’s cars are here.” He handed the driver the money finally and thanked him. “Let’s go.” He nodded towards the house, picked up our backs and strode towards the house.

I followed, somewhat reluctantly. About halfway to the front door, I began to compose myself. I pulled my purse straps neatly over my left shoulder, ran my fingers through my hair and rubbed my fingertips under my eyes to remove any traces of migrating mascara. When I pulled at my shirt to free the wrinkles, my hand brushed my lower stomach and I froze.

“Chris….” I breathed, staring down at my stomach. At 12 weeks along I already had to switch to leggings. There wasn’t much to show off, but my jeans had become painfully snug.

“You’re not showing, you’re fine,” he sighed. “Don’t be so nervous, they really are going to love you!”

“I’ll try,” I forced a smile and pulled at the sides of my shirt, stretching it to fit me more loosely. “When will we tell them?”

“Tonight? Maybe. Or we can wait until…”

Chris was interrupted when the front door swung open, revealing a little boy squealing “Uncle Chris!” in delight.

“I’m so sorry,” the boy's mother, I assumed, laughed. “We saw your cab pull up and we’ve literally been wrestling him away from the door ever since.”

“You took FOREVER to walk to the door!” The little boy yelped and jumped at Chris, landing firmly in the man’s arms.

Hugs began to fly around, even among the people that had already been here before us. I got caught up in the chaos of all the love and excitement, hugging everyone back, exchanging greetings of “It’s so nice to meet you!” and “Finally!”.

Chris urged me through the door and into the entry way, where he saw his mother and dropped our bags on the spot.

“Mom!” He beamed at her and rushed into a hug, nearly lifting her off the ground.

“Was everything ok out there?” She smiled up at Chris as he set her down.

“Oh yes, just had to prepare my girl before you all attacked.” He winked at me and pulled his mom in for a side hug.

“Attacked!?” She scoffed. “With hugs maybe!” She crossed the entryway to me, pulling Chris along with her.

“It is SO nice to meet you, Mrs. Evans!” I stuck my hand out to greet her.

“Oh, no. Absolutely not.” She swatted my hand away and enveloped me in the sort of hug one could only receive by a mother. “We HUG in this house!”

“Well okay then,” I laughed, hugging her back.

She pulled away, holding my by the shoulders and cleared her throat, tapping Chris’s foot with the toe of her shoe.

Chris took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. He pulled his free hand around his waist and his other hand went up over his head and rubbed down his face.

“Mom…” he placed his hand softly on her upper back. “Mom, this is <y/n>.”

Her eyes went wide and she repeated my name in a slow sigh. Goosebumps flashed across my skin, my heart beat quickened and I looked back and forth between Chris and his mother.

“Hi?” I questioned softly, a nervous smile creeping across my face.

“Hi!” She breathed and then yanked me into another hug.

WHAT. IS. HAPPENING? I mouthed the words to Chris, over his mother’s shoulder.

“Mom…” Chris started and laughed. “MOM!”

“Yes? Yes. Sorry.” She pulled away, tears in her eyes. I felt my eyes go wide and my brows knit together, twisting my face in worried confusion.

“Mom, <y/n> is going to need to hear the story.”

“You haven’t told her!?” The question came in stereo, from all of the Evans women, simultaneously.

“No,” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, I haven’t.

“Shut the door! Get into the living room. We need to pour some drinks!” Chris’s siblings ushered us all through the house. I allowed myself to be directed to a chair in the living room, next to the fireplace. Drinks were being poured, people chose their seats, all seemingly pointed at me. Chris accepted a rocks glass of ice and amber liquid and took his place standing next to me.

Chris’s father handed his mother a stemless glass of wine and patted her shoulder lovingly. She took a small sip and a deep breath to steady herself.

“When Chris was a little boy, he made quite the declaration.” She paused to eye one of her daughters, who erupted in laughter. “I was in the laundry room one afternoon, Chris was about six or seven. I asked him to bring me the clothes he was wearing, since he had been digging with Tonka trucks in the backyard all morning.”

“He was covered in dirt.” His sister piped in.

“Head to toe!” His brother piped in.

“Do you even remember this? How old were you!?” Chris pointed at Scott accusingly.

“Shh shh, let me tell the story!” His mother waved her hand at her children and took another sip of wine. “So, he comes in all sorts of angry, saying he likes his clothes the way they are. They look better dirty. He strips down to his undies and says ‘When I get married, my wife will let me wear dirty clothes if I want to!’ and slam dunks his clothes into the washer.”

I look to Chris who is sipping his drink and hiding his eyes behind his other hand. I can see his cheeks turning red.

“Then he walks out, all sassy, but stops at the door and yells ‘<y/n> will love me when I’m dirty!’ and just keeps on walking, like it’s no big deal that he just named his future wife.” She giggled and continued to sip her wine.

“Did you know someone named…“ I started to ask.

“No!” Scott cried out. “That’s the best part of the story!”

“Oh no, it’s not. It gets better,” his Dad winked at me. “What do you drink sweetheart? We’ve got quite the spread.” He gestured towards the bar that he was dutifully tending.

“Oh, nothing. Thank you.” I smiled. Fuck. That is going to tip them off.

“Nothing?” He raised an eyebrow to me.

“Water would be great!” I smiled. “Flying makes me so tired, I don’t want to add to it.”

“Water it is, then.” He winked at me again and filled a glass with ice.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Chris’s mother stood up and set her glass down on the coffee table. “You two must be so tired and here we are not even letting you put your bags away. Let’s get you in your room and you can rest or freshen up or whatever you need to do. We will have plenty of time this weekend to tell you tales of Chris’s childhood.d”

Chris offered his hand down to me and I took it reluctantly.

“But I want to hear the rest of the story!” I protested. “Your Dad just said ‘it gets better’… I want to hear it!”

“No, no you don’t.” He pulled me to his side and started to walk towards the entry way.

“Yes, I do!” I whined. “Do you remember this story?”

“Oh yes, every second of it. They will never let me live it down.”

“So… in Disneyland?” I turned my body to face him, walking backward.

“You walked like this, in Disneyland, yes,” he jeered at me.

“But… my name…”

“Yes, I wanted that to be your name.” He stopped and sighed heavily. “I fell in love with you the second I saw you, reading a book, in freakin Disneyland! I wanted you to be the wife I dreamed up when I was a little kid covered in dirt!” He took my head in both of his hand and pushed my hair back, ready to kiss me right there, in front of his entire family.

“Oh, he was such a silly kid,” his mom paused in the middle of the living room. “He even named the kids they would have!”

“Mom! STAAHHHHP!” Chris wrapped his arms around my head, pulling me into him, muffling my ears.

“No, not kids, mom. Babies! Remember?” His oldest sister laughed out.

“Oh yes, babies! They were always babies, not kids.” She chuckled. “And apparently they were going to come before marriage.”

“Because babies are more important than marriage,” the entire family chirped in unison.

I pulled at Chris’s biceps, freeing my head and stared wide-eyed at him.

“What were their names?” I barely whispered the question. Chris dropped his head in embarrassment, red flaming up in his cheeks again.

“Oh, the first was going to be a girl!” Shanna strode up to me and laid a hand on my shoulder. “He was going to name her Barbie.”

“Barbie?” I questioned him disbelievingly.

Chris pulled me into a hug and mumbled: “Like a Barbie Doll” into my neck. I pulled away, unable to contain my laughter. I shook my head slowly at him, mouthing the word “no”.

“I’ve spent the rest of his life trying to convince him that marriage is important too and should come before the babies.” She picked up her wine glass and took a long sip. “So keep that in mind you two! Since six-year-old Chris pre-destined you to marriage.”

I felt Chris take a deep breath and before I could do anything, he turned to his mother.

“Mom…” he started, I tightened my grip on him, but he ignored me.

“I know, I know, it’s the twenty-first century.” She rolled her eyes.

“Mom… no…” he crossed the room, pulling me gently by the hand. “Mom, sit down for a second.”

“What? Why?” She looked back and forth between Chris and I bewildered.

“Mom, please?” Chris’s voice was quite, but his smile was huge. She sat slowly and set her wine glass back on the coffee table. The rest of the family slowly filed back into the room, some sitting and some standing frozen in curiosity.

Chris knelt in front of his mother as best as he could, blocked partially by the coffee table. He held my hands in his left and his mother’s hands in his right.

“Mom, we’re pregnant. Six-year-old me knew what he was talking about.” He sighed, bracing for her response, then chuckled. “We are not naming her Barbie, but two out of three ain't bad, right?”

“Are you serious?” she gasped.

“Absolutely! Barbie is a silly name! We’ll have to think of something else.” He grinned, the sarcasm not escaping him.

“Are you serious?” She looked up to me this time.

“Yes,” I choked out, tears filling my eyes.

“More grandbabies!?” She jumped up and threw her arms around the both of us.

“I knew it!” his father shouted from behind us, joining the hug.

“You better not name her Barbie!” Scott joked, wrapping his arms around the group.

“We don’t even know if she’s a girl yet!” I cried out.

“You said SHE!” Chris shouted back excitedly.

“Barbie Evans!” Scott cheered.

Soon everyone was crowded into a group hug, stumbling over furniture and vying for space. The tears flowed freely now and I hiccupped in failed efforts to stop the crying. Chris found me in the masses and pressed his wet cheek to mine, kissing my temple forcefully.

“I told you it would be ok,” he whispered.

“I’m so glad you were right!” I grinned into his neck.

…

The weekend was spent getting to know Chris’s family and them getting to know me. Breakfasts were quiet, with just his parents, good coffee and amazing home made pastries. Lunches were spent out of the house, Chris showing off his hometown and taking me to his favorite restaurants. Family dinners were loud and boisterous, full of good food, love, laughter and shenanigans.  
  
Sunday evening we sat around the living room in quiet conversation. Chris recounted our time in Disneyland, while I interjected with jokes about his ‘name issues’. Together we told the details of me telling my parents, alone, and Chris riding in on his white horse to save the day.

Chris barely managed to choke out his side of the story of me flying to New Mexico.

“… and then… she just said it. Her eyes were closed, she was so scared. But… she said it and I just. I was a mess, but I was so happy. I think I kissed her stomach? I don’t even know if that was appropriate.” He shook his head, tears slipping down his cheeks and into his beard.

“It was perfect,” I whispered and kissed the side of his head.

“I’m glad,” he snorted, cleared his throat, wiped his eyes, wiped his face and turned to look at me. “I’ve been waiting to be a dad my whole life.

“Clearly,” I teased. “Six-year-old you even named your babies.” I hid a yawn behind my hand and curled my feet under me on the couch. Chris pulled me into his side, kissed the top of my head and settled back with his arm draped over me.

“You getting tired?” He rubbed tiny circles on my shoulder with his thumb.

“A little, but it’s our last night and it’s only 8:45. I’m not ready to go to bed yet.” I rested my head on his shoulder and listened to more stories of Chris as a child. I was warned of his mischievousness, his emotional sensitivity and those sad puppy eyes that could get him out of any sort of trouble.

“So, we don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy yet?” Shanna questioned from the love seat.

“No, not yet. Chris thinks it’s a girl.” I smiled.

“She IS a girl,” he retaliated.

“And you?” Scott asked, nodding at me.

“She thinks Barbie is a boy,” Chris chided.

“Her name will NOT be Barbie!” I stressed.

“You said ‘her’,” Chris squeezed my knee.

“Ok, when will we know?” Scott nearly whined the question.

“Around twenty weeks,” Chris replied confidently. “So, just before Thanksgiving.”

“Oh, how fun!” Shanna chirped. “You guys will be here for Thanksgiving, right? You can announce then!”

Chris and I exchanged a worried look. This was not something we had talked about. Our families lived on opposite coasts. Things were about to get even more interesting. As if they weren’t interesting enough already.

“We haven’t figured that out yet,” I answered quickly, for my words to not be overtaken by the yawn that was creeping out of me. I turned my face into the nook of Chris’s shoulder, covering the yawn with my hand again.

“Ok, this tired lady is going to bed,” Chris announced as he stood and scooped me into his arms. I started to giggle but was interrupted by yet another yawn. There was no rhyme or reason to protest. We bid our goodnights with promises of breakfast all together before we headed to the airport.

Chris carried me up the stairs and into our guest room. He gently set me on the bed and laid me back onto the pillows. I tried to hide another yawn, to no avail.

“You are so tired, baby,” he shook his head chuckling at me with his arms crossed. I nodded in response, my eyes heavy. “What do you need?”

“These,” I pointed to my shoes, “off!” Chris smiled and slipped my shoes off, briefly rubbing my socked feet.

“These too?” He tugged at one sock. I nodded enthusiastically, eyes closed. “Are you even going to make it to the pajamas part?” He slipped each sock off and I caught him shooting them each like a three pointer, into my bag in the corner of the room. I giggled at the site of his face when he realized I saw his antics.

“Ok… what are we sleeping in?” He walked to my bag and started to pull out clothing. “Did you bring pajama pants?”

“Do I sleep in pajama pants?” I droned sarcastically.

“No… you sleep in… ah!” He raised a finger with a look of realization and walked to his bag in the opposite corner of the room. My eyes fluttered closed and when they opened Chris was at my side, dangling one of his t-shirts for me. “How does this one sound?”

“Perfect.” I grabbed at the shirt but he whipped it away from my hand.

“I’ve got you, baby.” He caught my hand and pulled me to sitting and turned me to dangle my legs over the edge of the bed. Off came my shirt, then my camisole and my bra. He pulled the t-shirt over my head and arms without missing a beat. I felt my hair dishevel over my face and pushed my lower lip out in a pout.

“No fun?” I questioned.

“You’re a goober.” He smoothed my hair back into place and kissed my forehead. “You would fall asleep before my pants were off.”

“True story,” I agreed, flopping back onto the bed. I pointed at my leggings now. “Pants. Off.”

“Pants off. You got it.” He crouched down and began to struggle with the stretchy fabric, pulling at all the wrong places, making more work for himself. I wiggled, trying to help him, but he steadied my hips, pressing me into the bed.

“Just trying to help,” I smiled, my eyes closed. Chris’s hand slid over my stomach, resting on the soft swell that we both seemed to notice, for the first time, at that moment. I sat up quickly, my eyes going to his.

“No!” He nearly yelped. “It’s gone now. Lay back down.” I giggled and obeyed, peering down my body to where Chris’s hand covered me. He pulled my t-shirt up to expose my stomach. I slid my hand next to his, sharing this small space where we could physically feel what was going on. Tears stung my eyes and I closed them again, tipping my head back and grinning.

“That is… am I?” I couldn’t find the words I was thinking. In my mind I could see the baby, her growing womb, pressing outward on my body, causing this soft swell of my stomach, that I could feel. I could feel my pregnant belly, with my hand. She had been there this whole time, but now I could feel her.

“You are. You’re showing. That’s our baby in there.” His words were thick with emotion and I didn’t need to look at him to know that tears were falling from his eyes. “Do you really think it’s a boy?”

“No… she’s a girl,” I smiled. He pressed his face to my leg and I could feel the smile spread across his entire face.

We sat for a moment, hands pressed to my skin, tears falling silently.

Chris stood up wordlessly and crossed the room quickly. I watched him from the corner of my eye as he kicked his shoes and socks off, quickly removed his jeans and shirt and flicked the light switch off. I heard his feet pad across the dark room and he was at my knees again. He slid my leggings off easily, this time, pulled back the covers and picked me up.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I know,” I replied.

He settled me into the bed and walked around to the other side. I rolled onto my hip to face him as he joined me, only to be pushed to my back with his strong hand. He pulled the blankets over us both and our hands met again on my belly. There we slept, with every sleepy movement, through the night, adjusted for our hands to rest on my stomach.


	8. Chapter Eight

By sixteen weeks pregnant, there was no hiding my baby bump anymore. Thankfully I had told most of my extended family and good friends. The rest found out when I ran into them around town, at work events or when my mother couldn’t keep the news to herself. Chris, however, remained a mystery to those outside of my immediate family.

The end of October brought my parents annual pumpkin carving party. Everyone was invited to the open house style affair, so long as they brought a dish to share and their own pumpkin to carve. Mom and dad chose creative categories and judging for the carving. Dad was the decorator, going a bit crazy with fake spider webs and dry ice fog. Mom created beautiful gift baskets for the winners, with handmade Halloween décor, baked goods, jars of Grandma’s famous apple butter and a sprinkling of Starbucks gift cards.

An enviable spread of food filled the dining room table and overflowed to the kitchen counters. A menagerie of patio tables, folding tables, and picnic tables scattered the deck and the yard. Each table was covered in plastic, newspaper and a scattering of pumpkin carving tools. Some guests had brought props and accessories, creating extravagant entries for the contest.

I had helped my little cousin Mikey carve his pumpkin into a Captain America shield and proudly displayed it on the judging table in the children’s group. After sending Mikey off with a plate of food, I stood around joking with my cousins, sneaking bites of spinach dip heaped onto pieces of French bread.

“So, why won’t you tell anyone who the father is? Is it Seth?” My cousin Kevin was interrogating me.

“Ew, no. For the last time, it’s NOT Seth.” I rolled my eyes. The question was getting old but the accusation of Seth being the father was getting even older.

“So tell us… please?” our other cousin Samantha pleaded.

“I can’t… I just… not yet.” I stuffed another piece of bread in my mouth.

“What are you afraid of?” My sister teased. I shot her a wide eyed look.

“Are you serious!? SHE knows!? Why can’t WE know too?!” Kevin was up in arms, nearly shouting. Party guests started to look our way and I groaned through my mouth full of food.

“No, really, she can’t. Not till he’s ready.” My sister was defending me now.

“What the hell, lady? We know EVERYTHING about each other… this is bull shit.” My mouth fell open in shock. I knew what Kevin was referring to. He had come out to me when we were younger before he had told anyone else. At this point nearly all of the cousins knew, yet he had decided to wait to tell his parents and their entire generation. The point seemed moot to me, as everyone simply assumed that Kevin was gay anyway. Several conversations had occurred between him and me, with me arguing that he didn’t even need to ‘come out’. That everyone knew anyway.

“That is not fair,” I scolded him, my voice hushed. “I’ve only been pregnant for sixteen weeks. I’ve only KNOWN for eight weeks.”

“I still say it’s bull shit.” He crossed his arms defiantly. I looked around the group for some support, but everyone stared at me expectantly. Kevin confidently continued his interrogation. “What are you trying to hide his identity for anyway? What… is he some super hero or something? The public can’t know that Superman has an illegitimate child!?”

“Captain America, actually.” Chris’s voice was in my ear and I nearly choked on my food.

Kevin’s mouth fell open in shock and Samantha’s face went wide eyed and pale. My sister threw her hand over her mouth, dropping the chip she was about to eat.

I spun around to face Chris, my hair whipping him in the shoulder.

“You!” I cried out. “You are a brat!”

“Surprise!?” Chris lifted his palms to the sky in a shrug.

“Shut. The. Hell. Up.” Kevin’s voice was quiet and shaky behind me. “Where is my brother!?”

“What are you doing here?” I swallowed my food quickly.

“Your mom sent me an invitation. I wasn’t about to miss the 27th Annual Pumpkin Carving Party!” He grinned and pulled me into a hug. “Baby’s first Halloween? I gotta start out strong with the traditions.” I looked up at him, chin resting on his chest, my face flaming red. “I still make you blush, Baby?”

“Yes…” I buried my face in his chest and inhaled his scent as he pulled me in tighter.

“I missed you,” he whispered in my ear.

“I missed you, too,” I smiled into his bicep that covered my face. He slid his arms down, squeezed again and then took my face into his hands, planting a soft kiss on my lips.

Kevin whooped from the corner of the yard, stirring the party up again. Aunts and Uncles pushed forward to shake Chris’s hand. Little cousins gathered around him asking hilarious questions.

“Is the Hulk scary?”

“Do you visit Thor in Asgard?”

“Is it hot when you’re the Human Torch? Do you sweat?”

“Where is Bucky’s metal arm now? Did Iron Man keep it?”

Chris laughed and kneeled down to talk to the kids, winking up at me. He answered each question, in turn, pausing to hug sweet baby cousin Sophie when she squealed ‘Cap-tin Merica’ in her tiny toddler voice. When Kevin and Mikey approached Chris shook Mikey’s hand stoically and followed him to see the pumpkin we had carved together.  My heart swelled witnessing how sweet Chris was with the kids.

Mom and Dad stood near the back door, proudly watching the interactions and answering questions about Chris, his intentions, if he was a good guy and what they thought of him.

“So what the hell, dude?” Kevin elbowed my arm playfully.

“What?” I feigned innocence.

“How did this happen?”

“We met in Disneyland… and… yeah.”

“How long ago?” Kevin took a sip of his Pumpkin Ale slowly.

“Well…” I peered down at my stomach and then sideways at Kevin.

“Oh wow…” His eyes went wide and he took a large gulp of his drink.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “It’s been… what did Chris say? A whirlwind.” I smiled at the memory of our dinner announcement in New Mexico.

“So what happens now?” Kevin slipped his arm into mind and gave me a gentle shake.

“I don’t know. I really don’t.” I scowled into the distance and then refocused on Chris being introduced to Grandma, by my parents. “Clearly he’s not going anywhere, though.”

“Clearly,” Kevin agreed.

“Have you met his parents?”

“I have. We went to Boston a few weeks ago.” I smiled reassuringly at Chris while Grandma hugged his waist.

“How did that go?” He leaned his head onto mind as the questions started again.

“Really really well, actually. His family is amazing. They’re really excited.”

“But?”

“But... What?” I stared straight forward.

“What are you afraid of?” His question was sincere.

“Everything.” I sighed, tears suddenly stinging my eyes. I swallowed hard, refusing to let them fall. “That he’ll leave. That he doesn’t love me, he just loves the baby. That this was so fast and sudden and unplanned that… it will just… implode.”

“He loves you, that is obvious. He wouldn’t be here right now if he didn’t love YOU. Has he told you that he loves you?”

“Yes…”

“Have you told him that you love him?”

“No…”

“Do you?” his voice raised in surprise.

“I think so…”

“Then tell him!” Kevin’s voice was incredulous.

“When I’m ready. When I’m sure.” I had successfully kept the tears at bay, but when Chris turned to find me, they were back and I exhaled sharply.

“You’re dumb. You love him. Just tell him.” Kevin pulled his arm from mine and gave me a soft push towards Chris. I stumbled into Chris’s arms and he held me tightly.

“Can I steal you for a minute?” he whispered straight into my ear.

“Yes, please!” I took his hand and pulled Chris towards the house

“Wait!” Mikey called. “Where are you taking him!?”

“Just inside, Mikey. He’s not leaving, don’t worry.” I ruffled Mikey’s hair when he approached.

“Oh good! I have so many questions!” Mikey sighed loudly and hugged Chris’s waist.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” Chris kneeled down to Mikey’s eye level. “I just gotta go talk to my girl for a minute, then we’ll talk comics. Sounds good?”

“Sounds good.” Mikey skipped away to his mother and mine.

Chris and I headed towards the office, my mind on the soft leather couch that Dad refused to get rid of. My legs were starting to ache from standing around the party and the overstuffed couch was calling my name.

Just a few steps into the hallway and Chris pulled me to a stop, turning my back to the wall and caging me with his arms, palms pressed to the white wood paneling behind my head.

“Oh!” I gasped. “I thought we were just escaping the party for a minute.”

“We are,” he held my gaze with his own. “I just wanted to look at you for a minute.” His eyes flicked down to my mouth. “Maybe kiss you a little bit.”

“Oh really?” My sarcasm was interrupted when he crashed his mouth into mine. His left hand pressed to my hip, pinning me against the wall. His right hand carded through my hair, gripping the back of my neck, pulling my face against his hungrily.  Every inch of my skin lit up, sensitive to every microscopic movement that Chris made with his body. “Chris!” I gulped for air.

“Sorry…” he growled into my mouth and pulled his face away ever so slightly. I whimpered at the loss of contact and he smiled against my lips, kissing me again. His hand slipped around my waist and he pulled me fully against him.

“Not. Here.” I pulled away, fighting the urge to drop to the floor with him, right then, right there.

He pressed his forehead to mine and pulled his hips back, pressing his hands back on the wall on either side of my head.

“I’m sorry, that’s not what I was planning when I stole you away.” He took in a deep stuttered breath and blew it out from puffed cheeks.

“It’s ok,” I smiled and pecked his lips quickly. “Just save it for later.” I slid my arms along his sides and pulled him to me, resting my cheek on his chest.

“Oh, I will. You can count on that.” He kissed my hair and pulled back, turning serious. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Ok?” My face twisted in worry. Oh no! What is this!?

“I love you. I know that you know that I love you.” He shook his head and smiled at the confusing phrase. I frowned at him. “I also know that you love me, but I will wait as patiently as I can for you to tell me.”

“Oh you know that, do you?” I teased.

“I do.” He grinned at me, so damn confidently. “But… don’t… I know... maybe… ok…” He sighed, suddenly flustered and dropped to one knee. My eyes went wide, my body frozen on place. “Ok, no… no… that was bad.” He stood hurriedly and took both my hands in his.

“Jesus, Chris!” I let the words out shakily. “What are you doing?”

“NOT proposing. I’m not. I’m... not.” He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a small rose gold ring. A simple thin band.

“You’re NOT!?” My mouth went dry and my hands started to shake.

“I’m not,” he laughed nervously, taking my right hand.

“Well good, because that’s not even the proper hand.” I shook my head nervously, staring down at our hands.

“I know that.” He chuckled, avoiding my stare. “Like I said, I’m not proposing.”

“Then what are you doing!?” My voice went high pitched, nervous, scared and confused.

“I am promising you that I am not going anywhere.” He slid the ring onto my fourth finger, up to the first knuckle and paused to look at me. “No matter what, no matter what happens, what the world throws at us, no matter what happens between you and me, I’m not going anywhere. I’m standing here, right now, promising you and the baby that I will always be there for the baby. Financially, emotionally, physically. I need you to understand that I am not going anywhere.” Tears filled his eyes, he licked his lips as they swelled, fighting back the tears. “I want you to stop worrying that I will suddenly abandon you and our baby. I will not. Ever. I swear on my life.”

I choked out a sob, covering my mouth with my left hand. Chris took a deep breath to steady himself, slid the ring fully onto my finger and continued.

“Whenever I am not around, and you doubt any part of this… any of it… this ring will be here to remind you of what I’m saying right now.” He rubbed his thumb over the ring and squeezed my hand. “I love you. There is no getting around that. I want us to work, so badly. I want to be parents, together. With you.” His eyebrows knit together and he crouched to look up into my eyes. “For that to work, you have to trust me and know that I’m here to stay. Once you understand that, once you really believe that, we can work on us. We can really work on us. Everyone knows now, there is no more stress of telling people about it. Now we can focus on really getting to know each other. We can have fun getting ready for the baby. And while we do that, I plan on falling one hundred percent completely in love with you and I’m going to make you fall in love with me.”

Tears streamed down my face as I sobbed openly, staring into the eyes of this man that really, truly, honestly, was never going to leave me or our baby.

“I don’t know what to say,” I bawled.

“Nothing, don’t say anything.” He pulled me into his chest and fully let go of his emotions, blubbering into my neck, his chest heaving with sobs. My body shook with my cries, nearly howling into his shoulder.

As we stood there, realization washed over me. Not only was I scared of Chris abandoning me and the baby, he was also terrified that I would leave. He worried that I wouldn’t let myself fall in love with him and I would take his baby and turn my back to him. That I would stubbornly attempt to protect myself and the baby from heartbreak, selfishly pushing him away.

“I’m sorry,” I wailed. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Don’t you dare be sorry!” He pulled his head back, scowling at me in worry. “What the hell do you have to be sorry for?”

“Everything. For being stubborn. For being scared. For not believing you.” I rubbed my forehead on his collar bone.

“Given the circumstances, I think that was warranted. All of it.” He rested his chin on the top of my head, lifting a hand to wipe his face. “But now? Do you trust me?”

“I do,” I sighed, pulling my arms to my chest and nestling my face into his neck. His arms automatically came around me and we sighed in unison. “I love you,” I whispered.

“I know,” his face split into a grin, his cheek pressing against my temple.


	9. Chapter Nine

“Why are we here, Chris?” I whined, picking up a tiny pink baby sleeper.

“Because we can be.” He grinned from the opposite side of the clothing rack, holding up a lavender onesie with ‘I ♥ Daddy’ on the chest.

“But we can’t buy anything yet!” I protested, hanging the pink pajamas back up.

“Sure we can,” he reached over the rack to pick up the discarded sleeper and laid it over his arm with the onesie he had picked out.

“Honey, we don’t even know if she’s a girl yet.” I crossed my arms over my chest and eyed the next rack over, full of baby blue and light green clothing.

“Sure we do.” He came around the rack and rubbed my belly with his free hand.

“You seriously can’t wait a couple more hours?” I leveled my eyes at him. “What if… what if we have to bring all this stuff back!?”

“Then we’ll bring it ba… OOH!” He interrupted himself, bobbing around me to snatch another outfit. A white onesie, with a pink applique stating ‘Daddy’s Princess’, and a matching pair of pink leggings… with an embroidered gold tiara on the butt. He held the outfit up by the hanger, next to his face, grinning.

“You are such a goofball,” I tittered.

“Yeah, well, I’m your goofball.” He sidled up to me, kissed my cheek and dramatically added the outfit to the growing pile on his arm. “Come on, let’s check out and then go get lunch before the doctor.”

“Great idea, I’m starving!”

“What do my girls want for lunch? Ice cream?” He winked at me.

“Ice cream!?” I yelped.

“Maybe cookies instead?” He bit his lip, holding back a smile. “Gotta get her all sugared up so she’s movin for the ultrasound!” His hand was on my belly again, his eyebrows dancing in excitement.

“Biggest goofball I’ve ever met!” I enunciated pointedly, my eyes wide, and shook my head at him slowly.

He knelt down to my stomach and pressed his mouth to my shirt, speaking in stage whisper he mumbled to the baby “She has no idea, Barbie. Just wait till you’re outta there and I’m singing you Disney songs in the middle of the night!”

“Her name is NOT Barbie!” I swatted him on the head.

“We better get a name picked out for her,” he looked up at me, kissed my round stomach and stood up. “We can’t call her Barbie forever.”

“I couldn’t agree more!” I nodded as we headed to the cash register.

…

Chris and I were cracking jokes, teasing each other for crying and generally distracting each other, while the ultrasound technician quickly ran through measurements, standard images and organ identification. As cute as our baby was clearly going to be, watching fuzzy measurements of the baby’s kidneys was only making the time seem to drag on and on.

“Ok,” the technician said excitedly. “Now for the fun part!”

 Chris and I turned to face the screen at my right. Chris was holding my left hand in both of his, sniffling the tears away as soon as we saw a recognizable hand make a tiny wave on the screen.

“Welp, there’s a hand!” The technician froze the screen and added a caption ‘Waiving HI to mom and dad!’. He twisted the wand and glided to another spot, catching two tiny feet, seemingly crossed at the ankles. Another still photo was captured and printed. Wands were switched out and an image appeared of a wider angle, showing off our sweet little baby in her entirety. Head to toe, curled into herself, sucking her thumb.

“Oh my god,” I gasped. “Look at her!”

Chris was speechless, his shoulders shaking as he cried into his hand. My own tears spilled over at the sight of Chris.

“That is a good shot!” the technician exclaimed proudly, freezing the frame again and printing the image. He switched wands back again and the image seemed to zoom in on her face. The sweetest facial profile focused in the frame, just in time for the technician to capture the image and print it, before I was shaking with sobs.

“I’m so sorry!” I laughed through tears. “I’m probably making this harder on you, moving so much.”

“It happens all the time,” he reassured me with a smile. “You keep saying ‘she’… do you already know?”  
  
“Oh! No! We just… have a feeling.” I wiped at my face and Chris handed me a tissue from the box on the counter near him.

“Do you want to know?”

“YES!” we both cried out.

“Let’s find out then!” He twisted and slid the wand around my belly. The baby wiggled around, putting her back to the ultrasound wand. “No no, sit still little one,” he mumbled, sliding the wand to another position. The baby turned again, positioning two tiny feet in my ribs and pushing off with her legs.

I groaned, my body stretching uncomfortably. Chris eyed me worriedly. I squeezed his hand with a reassuring smile.

“You’ve got a feisty one,” the technician laughed, chasing our baby around with the wand.

“Good thing I didn’t eat that ice cream,” I pursed my lips, eyes wide, at Chris.

“Ha! Yeah, that would have been even worse.” He added more of the oddly warm blue goo to my stomach and tried again. “Oh, I think I’ve… nope, darn it.”

I eyed the clock, knowing we only had a little more time.

“How hard is it to tell?” Chris was rubbing my hand anxiously.

“Well, not hard, if I can just… I just need to see,” he was squinting at the monitor. “Really, I just need a second to make sure. Longer if you want a picture.”

“Oh!” Chris jerked his head back. “Oh that’s fine, I don’t think we need a picture of her… her… lady parts.” I snorted at the look on Chris’s face.

“It’s more normal than you’d think,” the technician winked at Chris. “But if you don’t want one that’s, fine. Easier for me.” He scooted his chair up, closer to the computer and started to switch wands again. He stopped when the baby stopped moving for a brief moment. “Ooh, we’re sitting still... Ok… let’s be sneaky.” He slowly and as lightly as possibly moved the wand, only for the baby to squirm again and make the angle impossible.

“Oh, you’ve GOT to be kidding me!” Chris threw his arms up dramatically and laughed.

“Is there anything that gets your little wiggle worm to sit still for a second?” The technician was looking at me intently.

“No… not really. There’s a lot of movement after I eat… and when Chris comes home…”

“Home…” Chris let the word roll out of his mouth slowly. I smiled softly at him.

“Oh! Yes. When you come home she gets all excited at your voice, but then you put your big ol’ hands on me and they’re really warm and you talk to her…” I grabbed at Chris’s arm excitedly.

“You want me to talk to her?” His chin dropped and his eyebrows went up. “Here? In front of… people?”

“Yes.” I froze my face. “You want to know if she’s a girl, right?”

“Yes… I…” He took a deep breath and knelt down towards my stomach. “This is so embarrassing,” he whispered to no one in particular. He lightly touched his forehead to the top of my belly, avoiding the slimy blue mess. “Barbie, you’re embarrassing me.”

Giggles burst out of me before I could contain them.

“I’m sorry!” I yelped, then whispered, “I’m sorry,” looking around the room, avoiding eye contact with Chris.

“Barbie, please. Just… just sit still for a minute.” She stretched across my hips and rolled again, I sighed at the discomfort. “You’re already disobeying your father?” I stifled another giggle, receiving a kick to the bladder.

“Keep talking, Dad, I’ll keep trying while you talk.” The technician’s eyes never left the screen, his hand moving by muscle memory, guiding the wand over me. I looked up at Chris, finding him beaming at my stomach after being called ‘Dad’.

“Barbie? Barbie. Sit still, Barbie,” Chris cooed. “Do you hate the name Barbie? Is that why you’re wiggling so much? If you sit still, we can check you out and then give you a proper name.” His voice was sing song, almost teasing our unborn child.

“I really only have a few more minutes,” the technician checked his watch quickly and went straight back to his attempts. “I’m trying, though, I really am. I’ve caught a few glimpses, but each time I swear it’s different.” He squinted at the screen again.

“Chris,” I whispered. “Sing to her.”

“Si… Sing?” His eyes flicked back and forth between my face and my stomach. “I’m not singing. You get Sebastian here and he’ll sing you some Jersey Boys,” he crooned to my stomach.

“I’m so sorry, guys,” the disappointment was heavy on the technician’s face. “This baby is all settled down in your hip, I can’t see and apparently we’re finally calm enough to sit still.”

“Time for ice cream?” I pouted my lip in protest.

“Time go back to that baby store.” Chris smiled gently, failing at hiding the disappointment on his face.

“Is that so?” I cocked an eyebrow at him and took the handful of tissues from the technician to clean up.

“Well, we’ll need clothes for a boy AND a girl, if we won’t know till it’s born.” He pulled me up to sitting.

“It?” I scoffed. “She!”

“She…” his eyes went to the technician.

“I’m really so sorry you guys. You could try to convince your doctor to order another ultrasound…” the technician let his voice trail off.

“I could just pay for another one?” Chris looked to me questioningly.

“Actually… I think this could be fun,” I spoke the words slowly as I stood, not even sure of what I was saying.

“Fun?” Both men looked at me now.

“Yeah… why not? It’ll be a surprise!” I smiled, sure of myself now. “We’ll pick out two names! One for a boy and one for a girl. We’ll aim for some gender neutral baby gear and… and the nursery too.”

“And what? Just buy ALL the baby clothes?” Chris feigned concern.

“Exactly.” I bounced on tip toe to kiss his cheek quickly.

“Really?” Chris looked to the technician again.

“Hey man, it’s not my baby,” he chuckled, handing Chris the long strip of printed photos.

…

Wandering the baby store again, Chris was anything but satisfied with not knowing the baby’s gender.

“Are we sure about this?” His poor eyebrows were getting quite the work out today, now tilted up in a sad and confused sort of way. “You really want to wait?” He held up a navy sleeper with a dinosaur on the butt and a yellow sleeper with a big pink daisy on the butt.

“I am.” I grabbed at the dinosaur sleeper and hung it from my arm. “We have plenty of girl’s clothes, honey.”  
  
“But it’s so CUTE!” he whined, putting the sleeper over his own arm. “What’s with all the stuff on the butts, though?”

“I guess so you can see it when they’re crawling around?” I shrugged. “It’s freakin’ adorable, though!” I held up yet another outfit, with monkey face on the butt, giggling.

“How do baby showers work?” Chris asked, stopped mid step.

“What do you mean?” I handed my small pile of baby boy clothes to his arm and started picking through the girl’s clothes he was squirrelling away.

“I guess I mean… should we wait to buy stuff? I don’t want to sound greedy… but aren’t baby showers all about the presents? I don’t want to take that away from anyone.” He watched me pull out a few pieces that weren’t my favorites.

“I’ll have to ask my mom.” I started hanging up the rejects. “She mentioned throwing me a baby shower with my sister and my aunt.”

“So should we put all this back?” He shrugged his shoulders, lifting the arms of clothes.

“Nope,” I popped the p sound decidedly. “It’s our baby, we will buy what we want for her.”

“I like that idea,” Chris smiled and collected the rejects I had just hung back up.

“Clearly,” I stated, shaking my head at him. “So… how about that ice cream?”

“You want ice cream?” His face lit up. “Are we having our first craving?”

“Maybe… no… yes… ughhhhhh,” I groaned looking up at the ceiling. “I’d do just about anything for a banana split right now.”

“A banana split? Seriously?” He leaned back in a laugh, squeezing the armfuls of clothes to his chest.

“Don’t judge me,” I scowled. “I’ve been thinking about ice cream since you brought it up earlier. It’s all your fault.”

“Oh, I’ll take the blame for the ice cream… but not the banana split.” He bumped me with his shoulder playfully. “You took it up another level with that one.”

“So I did.” I slipped my arm through his, weaving my hand through the clothes.

We checked out quickly, pausing only to entertain the cashier’s teasing of being there twice in one day. Chris carried our bags to my car, adding them to the collection of bags we had stowed that morning. He held the passenger door open for me, smiling in question. I slipped in and dropped my keys into his open hand.

“Where to ma’am?” he questioned dramatically.

“Uh… let’s go to the little place by home and take it to-go.” I grinned back at him at the word ‘home’.

“Home…” he said the word slowly again, starting the car.

“Should we talk about that?” My face twisted in worry.

“No, not right now. We can talk about it later.” He nodded to himself and put the car in gear, backing out of the parking spot. He winked at me as he turned his head to check behind the car.

“How much later?”

“A lot later. Like… I don’t want you to stress about where this baby will be born.” I sighed in relief as he spoke. “This is home for you, so this is home for us.”

“Us.” I smiled as Chris steered the car into traffic.

…

Chris and I were settled on the couch in my living room, my feet in his lap, bowl of ice cream balanced on my baby bump and bags of baby clothes sitting on the floor in front of the couch. We giggled over each piece, resisting the urge to pull all the tags off right away.

“Where should we put all of this?” Chris burbled through a mouth full of ice cream.

“I think the last bedroom, the one closest to my room.” I licked my own spoon clean before using the edge to cut small pieces of banana.

“The office? What will you do without your office?” He swallowed quickly.

“I have my little writing desk in my room, so I’ll still have that. The rest can go out to the studio.” I nodded my head to the pool house that I had transformed into my workspace. “My bookshelves can come out here,” I waived my spoon around, gesturing at the space before me. “I read in here anyway.”

“Sounds ok. Is there enough space?”

“I can get rid of one of the desks. I don’t really need a writing desk, a full studio, and another office desk.” I chuckled to myself over how many desks I owned.

“Well, I’m here for a couple more days, do we want to start moving furniture around?” He shifted his weight on the couch to turn towards me, set his bowl on the floor and took my feet in his hands.

“No… no, you just stay right here and keep doing that,” I tipped my head back on the arm of the couch and closed my eyes, feeling nothing but Chris massaging my feet.

“As you wish,” he chuckled.

“Thank you, farm boy.” I giggled without moving.

“What are you thinking for this unisex nursery?” His thumb found the tender spot where the arch of my foot met my heel and I groaned happily at the pressure.

“I.. Uh…” it was hard to think when Chris’s hand were on my body. He really was good was his hands. This was a different level of good and I was finding it hard to speak. “I had a couple ideas.”

“Well?” He opened his hands, dropping my foot. I lifted my head, eyeing him angrily. “What are your ideas?”

“I was thinking something light… ahhhhh,” his hands went back to work and I lolled my head back again. “Maybe shades of white, cream, tan and brown. Something airy and earth toned.”

“Ok… what else?” He switched feet and I pouted for the split second.

“I was also thinking hot air balloons?” I opened my eyes to the ceiling, shaking my head. “But I have no idea of colors or… well, anything. I just like hot air balloons.”

“What if we did both?”

“Both? How would we do that?”

“Hot air balloons in the colors you were talking about.” He smiled proudly at his idea.

“I really like that!” I sat up, pulling my feet under myself.

“Yeah?” His eyebrows flew up in excitement.

“Yeah!” I was bouncing up and down on my folded legs. “Let’s go move some furniture!”

“I knew you’d see it my way!” He stood up and reached out a hand for me.

“Oh come on! Was that your plan the whole time!?” I rolled my head back as I took his hand and stood up dramatically exasperated.

“Maybe,” he pulled me in for a soft kiss. “Maybe not.” Kiss. “You’ll never know.” Kiss. I smiled into his mouth and giggled.


End file.
